FGO: True End
by Mallador9000
Summary: A short story written about a somewhat OC Fem Ritsuka after the completion of the Lostbelts. A story about a girl who just wants to move on from her loss and find happiness with the woman she loves.
1. Journey's End

**Just a new story I thought up**

**Highschool is now harder than ever before so I don't have the time or mentality to write something I see as standard in a short time, at least not yet.**

**This is actually part 1 of the template for possible future FGO crossovers. **

**Fem Ritsuka. Sort of OC Ritsuka, Shirou/Rin daughter origin. It actually adds some backstory to the character instead of her just being a nobody from somewhere random**

Fujimaru Ritsuka was the best master in all human history. This was a fact unable to be disputed by anyone in the world.

Leading a group of five hundred servants, she had completely defeated the enemies of humanity who had threatened to destroy the world.

Moreover, the nineteen-year-old woman did this twice.

Ritsuka defeated Solomon and the seven masters who came after him, each plotting to enact their own nefarious schemes upon the planet.

Granted, she was never without her servants, but the girl was always on the battlefield right next to them, fighting not in the way of a superior, but a trusted companion.

This, and her godlike charisma, able to ensnare the hearts of even the likes of Gilles and Angra Mainu, ensured that Ritsuka was respected by all of her servants, even arrogant kings like Gilgamesh and Ozymandias.

Trained by the best heroes humanity has ever produced, Ritsuka could only be described as superhuman, able to catch arrows from Chiron's weakened bow with mere instinct. Well, getting shot at 24/7 could do that to someone.

Now, with all the Lostbelts completed and the enemy masters defeated, it was time to gon back to the present and allow her servants to return to the Throne of Heroes.

They were going to hold another party, just like the one they had after the defeat of Solomon.

The first time was heartbreaking enough. Ritsuka really didn't want to go through it again. She still remembered the pain from back then, and reliving it was just going to be too much.

The servants were her family, and losing them was losing the world to her. Ritsuka may have saved humanity, but in the end, the people she cherished would be gone forever.

At the party, all the girl could do was try to hide in a corner and try not to cry. She had tried the last time, really tried. She had held back her tears and watched the people she loved disappear with a fake smile on her face. Ritsuka wondered if she still had the capability to do so again.

Seeing her distress amongst the boisterous party of drunken servants, Ishtar immediately adopted a serious expression, approaching her master with sudden haste.

Wordlessly dragging Ritsuka into a hallway despite her protests, Ishtar's face became motherly, looking into the girl's eyes with maternal compassion.

It took Ritsuka two seconds to realize that Ishtar was not in her normal haughty state right now.

"Mom?"

She asked this weakly, as the scantily-clad goddess embraced her with a warm hug unlike any of her usual ones.

Ishtar and Tohsaka Rin's personalities had mixed into a single being, so Ritsuka's hopeful wish was declined by reality. However, that did not mean that Rin was gone.

"Yes, Ritsuka. Yes, and no. I told you before, didn't I? No matter how much I may try to act like Ishtar is the dominant part of this body, the reality is that Tohsaka Rin's personality takes up 40% of it."

She would never admit it to anyone who wasn't her beloved master, but Ishtar wasn't exactly Ishtar anymore. As the personalities of her and her host blended, it resulted in the creation of someone much kinder than the Sumerian goddess, so much so that multiple versions of Gilgamesh had reevaluated his opinions on her. Even Enkidu, who hated her guts with all his being, eventually ceased his vicious remarks and teasing as he saw that the woman he had scorned so much had changed.

"Ritsuka, listen here, a goddess is talking, so don't interrupt."

The girl nodded, a faint trace of tears in her eyes, causing Ishtar's expression to soften, Rin's inner mother showing itself.

"While I can't approve of some of the more stupid and outrageous things you have done, I'm still proud of you for doing them."

The goddess winced.

"Still though, the sheer amount of people in your harem… I wonder if your father's genes evolved or something…"

Sighing, Ishtar shook her head became serious once more, staring Ritsuka in the eyes while clutching her shoulders.

"The point is, Ritsuka, I love you. that mangy, cynical, and all-around jerk of an Archer loves you, and despite your many acts of idiocy, every single last one of your servants loves you. Even when we return to the Throne, we will still watch over you, so don't fret."

Ishtar hugged her host's daughter, softly whispering in her ear.

"Your servants will never forget you, no matter what may happen. No matter what our bodies and souls are subjected to, the Master called Fujimaru Ritsuka has imprinted herself into all of our hearts, and it will never go away. So don't be sad. This isn't truly a goodbye."

Detaching herself from Ritsuka, Ishtar smiled, less serious than before.

"Besides, you still have to take care of that kouhai of yours, don't you? At the end of the day, there'll still be someone to warm your bed at night."

This statement was followed by a wink, courtesy of Ishtar's inner love goddess. A part of her seemed to want to commit suicide after saying that.

Still, even this comedic act could do nothing to brighten the master's mood, nothing short of the preservation of her servants being able to do such a thing.

The goddess almost froze when Ritsuka reached out and tugged on her arm, a sad, but resigned smile on her face. Her smile fading, Ishtar realized that she could do nothing more for her host's daughter.

With a shallow smile, the master softly said,

"Thanks, Ishtar. I feel better now."

Ishtar hugged her again, attempting to convey all of the warm emotions in her heart to her most beloved person in the world, the goddess's heart, shattering as she accepted the fact that nothing could be done about the situation. Fujimaru Ritsuka was a person who loved her servants with her mind, body, and soul. There would be absolutely nothing anyone could do to brighten the girl's mood when those same servants are taken away.

Ishtar sighed, resigned. With a heavy heart and a sorrowful smile, the goddess put a hand on her master's shoulder.

"_Just who will take care of her when we're gone?"_

"I know this is sad, Ritsuka, but let's just enjoy everything before it ends, ok?"

With that, the goddess Ishtar left, not wishing to stay a moment further. Her continued presence could only bring about more pain at the moment.

As Ritsuka walked back into the main room where the party was held, her hollow eyes filled with frustration for a millisecond before returning to normal.

"_You'll always be watching over me? Ishtar, I'm not stupid. My servants were never summoned with their original souls to this plane. They are mere copies of their original selves. Even if I love them all the same, it doesn't matter in this context. As soon as my servants reach the throne, their existences will be obliterated, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop that."_

Ritsuka held back all the negative emotions in her heart. This was supposed to be a celebration, not a funeral.

"_But isn't it? All the people I love will be leaving me in just a few hours, so can I really say it's not?"_

A single tear dripped from her left eye.

"_It's been a fun journey. We've saved the world two times over. Sure, there's been a lot of risks, but in the end, it was all worth it. Every single moment of that time is precious to me, more than anything else, and I wouldn't take back a second of it. Still… I wish that they can stay longer. Maybe if I just stretched the singularities longer... "_

Ritsuka held back a sob as her thoughts induced more despair in her mind.

"_Why did I even save the world in the first place? To save everyone? Don't joke with me! Because I saved everyone in this world, the people most precious to me are about to die! Even if they can accept it, I can't!"_

The master looked downwards, eyes ominously hidden by her shoulder-length hair.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have saved the world after all. What's even left for me after this?"_

Just after Ritsuka had those thoughts, her servants turned to her, sensing her emotional turmoil. Even the drunkards stopped in their tracks, smiling warmly to their depressed master.

Surprisingly, it was Angra Mainu who spoke first, dragging his pain-raddled body forward to speak to his master face to face.

He was the hardest servant for Ritsuka to befriend, but after she shared in his pain for a few days, a healthy relationship was born between them.

"Come on, Master. Join us for the party. It won't be the same without you."

These uncharismatic words from the broken man carried a whole other meaning entirely, clearly understood by Ritsuka. His eyes said it all.

"_From the start, we were just a means to an end, and we're fine with that. This time we have spent with you, none of us would ever want to change it. So don't be sad, Master. Live your life the best you can after we go, if not for yourself, then for us."_

Those eyes seemed so sincere, so loving. The master supposed it was because of Mainu's genuine concern for her. After all, she was the only person he could truly call a friend.

Ritsuka adopted another forced smile. No matter what they said, they were her family, and her family would be gone this day. Gone, scattered to the winds, never to return.

"_Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! GONE! ALL BECAUSE SOMEONE COULDN'T CONTROL THEIR OWN DAMNED HERO COMPLEX!"_

The girl knew she was being unfair to herself. She knew that even if she didn't want to save the world, her servants still did. However, Ritsuka was beyond logic at this moment, consumed by her emotions.

Swallowing the massive lump in her throat, Ritsuka wiped the pain-induced tears off her cheeks. Shoving away the self-loathing she knew to be unjustified into the deepest pits of her soul, the girl attempted to distract herself from her inner thoughts by participating in the party. She did wish for her servants to see her miserable in their last day on this earth.

Therefore, putting on the most difficult fake grin she had ever created, Fujimaru Ritsuka leaped onto a table, hand raised to the air as if she was attempting to command a contingent of soldiers.

"Alright! Normally I don't drink, but today I'll make an exception! Gil! Give me the best wine you have in your treasury!"

The Archer, noticing the barely-hidden despair in his master's eyes, could only put up a bitter smile, taking out an exquisite jar of wine from his storage and pouring it into a master-crafted porcelain cup. This was the least the king could do for the queen who had proven herself to him. She was the only person aside from Enkidu that he truly considered to be his equal. Whether it was the past, present, or future, there would never be anyone quite like Fujimaru Ritsuka ever again. Saying farewell to this brilliant master of his would be more difficult than his battle against the bull of heaven.

Crushing her dark thoughts underfoot, Fujimaru Ritsuka took the goblet in her hand and chugged the wine contained within it, giving an extra satisfied sigh at the end. This was the last time she would be able to drink it after all.

Partying with her servants for the rest of the night, the Master's despairing thoughts did not fade. Instead, they were only made stronger over time, threatening to burst from the feeble dam Ritsuka had erected in her mind.

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They were gone.

Artoria, Gilgamesh, Karna, Jeanne, Sitonai, Parvati, Heracles, Medea, Jalter, Cu, Emiya, Ishtar, Ereshkigal…

They were all gone, every last one, departing to the Throne of Heros leaving a trace behind.

The once boisterous Chaldea which used to be filled with servants was now a deserted wasteland, as the employees all packed their things and went back to their homes to visit family and friends. Understandable for people in their situation.

However, who was there for Ritsuka to return to?

The kind mother and father who had raised her were killed trying to contain a dead apostle, their bodies long buried.

Despite the girl's feats, no one outside of the moonlit world knew of her as more than a high-school student, and the mages who were aware of her existence viewed Ritsuka to be more of a threat than a savior.

Sitting by herself in the summoning room, Ritsuka stared forward reminiscing, her mind remembering each and every servant she had ever met.

This was a place of first meetings, sacred to the Master's heart.

"_I ask of you. Are you my Master?"_

"_Servant Archer. I answer to your summon."_

"_Yo, Servant Lancer has answered your summon. Well, let's try to have fun Master."_

"_Fufuhahahahaha! Being able to summon me means that you've used up all of your luck, mongrel."_

"_I am the Demon Archer Nobunaga, the Demon king of the Sixth Heaven! Very well... I will allow you to be my Master!"_

"_Assassin-class Servant. I heard your call from the shadows."_

"_Assassin - Jack the Ripper. Please take care of me, Mommy."_

Tears fell out of Ritsuka's eyes as she remembered everyone she summoned, shouldering the fact that she would never see them again.

Soon, stray tears devolved into soft sobbing, which devolved further into utter despair.

"Why? Why? Why do I feel this way?! We saved the world, didn't we?! The job is done, isn't it?! Everything should be back to normal! Back to being…"

These words merely represented Ritsuka letting out her emotions, as she had already realized that her definition of "normal" changed as soon as she stepped into the halls of Chaldea.

"Normal", was learning from Chiron. "normal" was playing with Jack. "normal" was the act of doing anything with her servants, leaving behind fond memories to be remembered.

Ritsuka would never experience her "normal" ever again.

The master would continue her sobbing for several more minutes, sitting on the cold floor with her back to the wall, mourning the loss of her friends.

What else was there to do once a heart had been broken?

Then, as if ordained by heaven, the girl's saving grace appeared in that moment, having finally found the one she was looking for.

Mash approached Ritsuka, walking into the room silently, eyes obscured by her light pink hair and glasses.

As the artificially-created human stepped towards her former master, she softly spoke to Ritsuka, warmly embracing her.

"It's ok, Senpai. You don't have to hide anything anymore."

Whispering gently in her senpai's ear, the girl revealed Ritsuka's hidden emotions in an instant.

"You were holding it in in order to not make them sad, right? It's fine now Senpai. You can cry now."

Seeing the warm, understanding smile on Mash's face, Ritsuka's lips quivered as her entire body began shaking. Truly, this kouhai was just too good for her.

Finally, the pain and sorrow barely restrained inside of her mind could not be held back any longer. The dam finally burst. A human could only hold on for so long before breaking after all, and in the presence of someone like Mash, someone where she could share everything with, the walls around her heart became little more than glass.

Embracing Mash with all her strength, Ritsuka cried her heart out.

There was nothing restrained, every emotion of anger and sorrow seeping out of the girl in the only way humans knew how to get rid of them.

The sound of sorrowful bawling echoed across the rooms, traveling across the empty halls of Chaldea until it was rendered obsolete. No one except for the former shielder heard them, and that was exactly what she had intended.

Influenced by Ritsuka's pained bawling, Mash couldn't stop the hot tears from trailing down her cheeks. Nor could she stop the sorrowful sobs which escaped her lips.

Fujimaru Ritsuka was not the only one to lose all of her friends in the blink of an eye. Everyone in Chaldea had a somewhat close relationship with the servants they worked with. They had to be when there were five hundred of the heroic spirits running around the place.

Therefore, everyone lost a friend, a comrade, a new part of themselves that they didn't know they needed.

The pain was dulled by the fact that the servants merely returned to where they came from, having seen this coming from the very start. Their disappearance was supposed to be an occurrence that brought relief, as it meant that the world was safe from destruction.

Even so, some could not accept it, as they valued emotions over logic. Ritsuka was part of those select few.

Mash, attempting to put up a stoic front with much more success than Ritsuka, found the wall she had erected around her heart falling as well.

She had also lost friends, mentors, and valued comrades. Seeing Ritsuka in such a state was the final straw that broke the camel's back. The pain was simply overwhelming, but Mash knew she could let it out if her senpai was here.

The image of a kindly smiling Lancelot suddenly appeared in her thoughts, as the tender and familial emotions of Galahad had not disappeared even after he did.

Mash had lost two fathers. First, it was Dr. Roman, who sacrificed himself at the Temple of Time. Second, it was the Knight of the Lake, who cared for her as if she was his own daughter, which was somewhat true in a sense.

The girl was arguably in a worse state than Ritsuka at the moment. From the start, Mash's mental fortitude was not as strong as her master's, and the fact that she wouldn't live for more than a few more years merely added to the emotional turmoil.

It was only the presence of Ritsuka that allowed Mash to actually function as a normal human being at the moment. If that support was lost, then there was no telling what would happen.

The master and shielder cried together, shedding all of the tears in their eyes for their former comrades. Lending each other bodies for support, the two girls, intertwined by a bond thicker than blood, found mutual relief in their actions.

However, no amount of crying would be enough.

It would never be enough, not to fill up the newly formed holes in their hearts.

They had each other for support, even when the rest of their friends were gone, their old partnership was never forgotten.

That would have to suffice, as there was no other alternative. No matter how unfair it was, no matter how cruel it was, there was simply no way to bring their loved ones back. As two humans living on the planet called Earth, that answer was the only one. Sooner or later, Ritsuka and Mash would have to accept their loss the same way as any other person.

They would have to move on.

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Lord El-Melloi II, known as Waver Velvet by his close students, was in his office, smoking a cigarette.

His hands folded beneath him, the man grit his teeth in frustration as he attempted to think of a way to secure a normal life for his pupil and former master. That was going to be extremly difficult. Ritsuka and Mash had been living with him for a month now, but he could not afford to harbor the two for much longer.

Ritsuka was someone who had access to the Tohsaka crest, a magic crest that was passed down from the famous Tohsaka family.

As the former master was not like the magi from the clocktower, probably wanting to live a normal life after the Grand Order, she would not be put under protection by the Mage's Association or the Church. In other words, Ritsuka would be a perfect target for many magi who would want to steal her crest. There were many desperate men and women out there. Mages were desperate for the Root, willing to do anything to get to it.

Waver had seen many examples of this for himself.

It was not very good for his sanity.

Waver was designated to be Ritsuka's teacher within Chaldea, taking on the spirit of Zhuge Liang as a vessel. In that time, he had bonded with the master, utterly ensnared by the sheer amount of charisma she seemed to possess. However, even before that, he had met with the girl when she was little, hands held by each parent. They were also his students after all.

It would not be a stretch to say that Waver Velvet loved Fujimaru Ritsuka like his own daughter.

Therefore, with all of his knowledge of Ritsuka, he was able to deduce that if the girl were to go into the outside world, then she would surely perish.

Sure, her magic abilities were nothing to laugh at, the ridiculous amount of training with her servants adding to her already great power. However, there would not be just one magus sent to kill her. No, magi are not creatures that are easily discouraged by the notion of death.

They walked closer with the age-old concept than everyone else. Every spell had the potential to explode in a magus's face, their life ending in the smallest of accidents. Magecraft was the creation and application of extremly precise formulas, not simply waving a wand around and summoning gigantic fireballs. No, the people who could do such things perished with the Age of Gods.

Therefore, no matter how many of them were killed, the magi would never be discouraged, always after the life of the Tohsaka heir, even if the chances of their deaths were high.

Eventually, her guard would slip. Eventually, some lucky fool would be able to kill her. Even if they weren't, living a life where you are constantly hunted down was not pleasant in the least.

Normally, the magi would simply leave Ritsuka alone to develop her magecraft, allowing the girl to safely pass it on to any possible descendants after improving upon the Tohsaka crest.

However, everyone who met Ritsuka knew that she had no intention of doing sor.

The girl did not have the heart and mind of a mage, preferring to spend quality time with her friends instead of doing what she called "crummy research that only leads to a stupid root that drives you insane".

Waver had heard that after Ritsuka had befriended Abagail, the girl's dark patron thanked her, granting the master a chance to see the root that all mages dreamt of. The powers of that god were truly great.

It did not end well, as the girl had come back sweating crazily, her eyes wide and dilated, almost as if she had been driven insane. Her neck was bleeding, scratch marks all over it. They seemed to be induced by ehr own nails.

The dark patron explained that he had shown Ritsuka the "true nature" of Akasha, the true core of the tree that surpassed the mere surface touched by the True Magic users. He had to erase her memories of it, as the knowledge had driven her to the point of an instant suicide attempt.

After saying something ominous about a puppet not supposed to be able to see the strings that controlled them, the dark god had disappeared, not talking to anyone but Abagail for quite some time.

"_Ah, how nostalgic…"_

Waver crushed his cigarette in his hand unconsciously, the burnt tip falling onto his desk and setting a piece of paper on fire.

Slamming his reinforced fist onto the desk, the Clocktower Lord emptied his frustrations onto the flame on his desk, putting it out in the second punch, somehow.

This was, of course, understandable. He had lost Iskandar twice after all.

"_Tsk, I shouldn't be thinking about that. Get back on track Waver, it's not like you have an infinite amount of time to come up with an idea."_

The problem with Fujimaru Ritsuka was that she had no plans to further her magecraft, which any self-respecting magus would not be able to accept. It was simple to tell that she had no intrest.

Normally, Waver would wholeheartedly support such a decision, as the world of magi was not suited for someone as caring as Ritsuka.

However, considering that the girl possessed the Tohsaka crest, no one would be quiet about it if she wasted an entire generation not advancing it. Therefore, many magi would attempt to take it.

Now, Waver had to find a way to protect Ritsuka, as to not let her live a life of constantly being hunted down.

One solution would be having her become a student in the Clocktower. That would just about solve all the problems present, as the protection granted by the Mage's Association was nothing to scoff at. Also, there would be a lot fewer magi after Ritsuka if she were to improve her craft.

While the solution was sound, it would be hard to convince Ritsuka to accept it. After all, she wanted to live a life surrounded by friends and family. Being a mage was the ideal way to not do that.

Sighing, the teacher could only take another puff of his cigarette. This matter was almost completely out of his hands. If Ritsuka would not take his offer of being a student, then there would be nothing he can do.

In the exact second El-Melloi II had that thought, a soft knocking came from the dark wood door to his office.

"Sensei, can I come in? I have something to talk to you about."

Waver took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"_Speak of the devil."_

Waving his hand in a welcoming manner, the man called out.

"Come in."

Taking this as a welcome, Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped into the room, a light blush on her face.

Her hands seemed to be fidgeting with something. It seemed like a long rolled-up sheet of paper, the kind used to make blueprints.

Waver raised an eyebrow.

"What is it, Ritsuka?"

The teacher was slightly amused. He hadn't seen his pupil like this in a long time, and after the loss of her servants, he doubted that this side of hers would ever appear again.

Waver had never been so glad to be wrong.

Taking a large sigh, Ritsuka seemed to let go of any hesitation and trepidation she may have had, piling together her determination for a single action.

"Sensei. I'm just going to get straight to the point."

Waver raised an eyebrow at this. It was not every day that Ritsuka was so determined. It was like she had found enlightenment and wished to turn her life around.

"I want to move on."

Ritsuka said this in a much quieter voice, in a way that suggested that even getting the words out was painful.

The teacher furrowed his brows, although not in an unhappy way.

It had been a whole month since the servants left, so Waver was glad something like this finally happened.

However, he was not stupid enough to think that a mere thirty days would allow the former master to conquer her trauma. Sure, she had undergone great physical and psychological torture in that wretched space-time distortion and escaped with most of her sanity. Sure, she had lost her parents at a young age, having had to kill many to survive in that same year.

Even so, losing almost five hundred of her friends in an instant? That was not something anyone could easily handle.

"Are you serious about that? Don't tell me that this is just some fake ploy to make yourself feel better. Toughing it out will just bring problems in the long run."

These were harsh words, Waver knew that. However, they conveyed a large amount of care for Ritsuka.

If what the girl was doing turned out to be nothing more than the creation of an emotional mask, then there was no point. When that mask breaks, so would she.

Ritsuka smiled warmly, her mood brightened by her teacher's concern. She seemed to have immediately quashed down some of her inner despair, but the sheer speed she utilized to neutralize those emotions meant that the girl was definitely not as despondent as before.

"Nope! Definitely not! I know what you're thinking, but don't worry about it. They wouldn't want me to be sad over them, so I'll do best to follow the instructions my servants would give me if they were still here."

Waver was about to respond, but stopped immedietly when Ritsuka shoved the rolled up piece of paper on her face into his face, opening it.

As the teacher's eyes widened in surprise, his pupil smiled cheekily at him.

"If you don't believe me, then this should prove it, right?"

Leaning back into his chair, the now relieved Waver allowed his face to form a light, gentle smile, the kind he had frequently put on in his younger days. All thoughts of doubt evaporated in an instant as the teacher combed his hair with a gloved hand, smiling contently as he leaned on the back of his chair.

Yes, there were issues with Ritsuka's current situation. Yes, it would not be safe for her in the long run

However, seeing the blueprint the girl showed him, it was his duty as her friend to aid her in creating the object described. After all, it was something extremly important to Ritsuka. Something that she would treasure for the rest of her life.

"_Mash, you are truly a lucky woman."_

Thinking this, Waver almost leaped from his seat with the eagerness he thought he had lost a long time ago.

Pushing back his hair with a gloved hand, the Clock Tower professor made an expression halfway between a grin and a smirk.

"When do we start?"

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"_It had been two months already, huh…"_

A beautiful girl with light purple hair sighed from her balcony, nostalgically admiring the risen moon from afar.

Adjusting her glasses, the girl barely held in a bitter chuckle.

"_It doesn't even feel as if a day has passed. The pain's just as fresh as ever. Lancelot, Artoria-san, everyone. They're all gone."_

Mash sighed again. These same thoughts ran through her mind many times now.

"_Don't be like this Mash. Senpai loved them even more than you, and she's trying her best to move on. You can't stay weak any longer."_

The former demi-servant turned away from the moon, facing her own inner darkness. A part of Mash seemed to be screaming at herself.

"_Nothing will change even if you cannot accept the results! The only choice in this situation is to move forward! Do you want to become nothing more than a liability to Senpai?!"_

The girl called out with solid words, desperate to prove her inner self wrong.

"No! You're wrong! I would neve-"

Mash caught herself, holding her face in her hands.

"_What am I doing? There's no denying it now. I definitely need to-"_

During Mash's moment of self-inspiration, the oak door of the balcony suddenly emitted a soft creak, signaling the arrival of another person. A worried voice resounded from the entrance.

"Mash, are you alright? I heard you talking to yourself."

Blushing greatly, the violet-haired girl turned to the person she loved the most in this life.

"N-nothing, Senpai! I was just… just…"

Ritsuka's expression turned serious, but understanding.

"You were thinking about them, weren't you?"

Mash seemed to deflate.

"I-I wasn't trying to hide it or anything…"

Her face instinctively turned to the floor, her shyness showing.

Suddenly, the girl felt a warm finger on her chin.

Ritsuka softly lifted up Mash's face to face hers, compassionate orange orbs peering into violet jewels.

The lustrous beauty of the moon simply added to the beauty of the scene, the two lovers staring into each other's eyes under the celestial sphere.

Ritsuka spoke softly, her expression loving, but stern.

"Stop this. They wouldn't want us to spend so much time mourning. Lancelot and Roman wouldn't want you to sulk so much, not for their sake."

As Mash looked upon Ritsuka's beautiful smile in that instant, she fell in love all over again. However, the barely-hidden pain upon the girl's face was as clear as day to someone who knew her so long.

The former master drew back, shoving her hands in her pockets, almost as if she was about to take something out.

Mash simply looked down once more, just as depressed as before.

"Senpai, you're not over it either… You loved them more than I did, so you must be hurting even more…"

Indeed, it took only a glance for the girl to realize that Ritsuka had indeed not recovered. With how much she loved her servants, it was likely that she would never truly heal.

It just showed how much stronger Ritsuka was when compared to her.

Suddenly, Mash reevaluated herself, realizing an important fact.

"_Even though senpai is hurting so much more, even when it feels like her heart is breaking apart, she still keeps moving forward… What am I doing? She's right, Dr. Roman and Lancelot wouldn't want me to be like this…"_

Just as Mash was about to find her courage and get over her despair, a sudden blush appeared on Ritsuka's face as she scratched the back of her neck nervously.

For some reason, Ritsuka began to fidget with her fingers, her voice suddenly nervous.

Mash frowned. Her senpai had not been like this for a long time now. What could have possibly have reduced her to such a state of mind?

With the "deaths" of her servants, Ritsuka had not made any expression resembling the one on her face in a month, therefore, something good must have happened, right?

However, the statement the girl was about to make more than justified her reaction.

Looking downcast, Ritsuka's voice became a mere whisper, almost jittery.

"It's true that I'm still not over it. I don't know that if I'll ever be over it. But, they would definitely want me to be happy, so there's no real choice. I have to live the best I can, even if it's for the people we lost."

Ritsuka's expression became more determined, the girl stepping forward in an instant, closing the distance between her and her kouhai.

Mash's breathing stopped.

The former master's orange hair and eyes were softly illuminated by the lustrous light of the moon, taking on a beautiful sheen. The nervous smile on her face possessed the radiance of a sun, the aura emitted by those gentle bronze eyes embracing Mash in a shroud of warmth.

Ritsuka's smile widened. The girl had made up her mind about what she was about to do. She wasn't the only person whose beauty was greatly enhanced by the moonlight, her kouhai's pristine form solidifying her decision in an instant.

Confronted by the gentle form of the artificial human, Ritsuka's resolve peaked.

"Mash…"

The former shielder gulped. It looked like Ritsuka would make a serious statement. What would she say?

Ritsuka could almost see the images of her fallen friends and lovers, pushing her forward despite any insecurities the girl possessed. The smiling faces of her servants came to mind as the master slowly drew the object she was holding behind her back.

"I've been wanting to ask you since Solomon, but I never had the courage to."

She paused, her hands tightening.

"But I won't falter this time, not when the people we love are pushing me forward."

Mash was nervous now. Just what could Ritsuka ask that made her so serious? Hopefully, it wouldn't be anything bad.

The former master drew a black case from behind her back, a small oak container that contained a shining object within.

Mash, realizing what the container was, froze in shock.

Ritsuka suddenly knelt on one knee, shoving the container forward, snapping back the top to reveal the treasure underneath.

A master-crafted ring seemed to glow as its purple and yellow form radiated intense amounts of magical wisdom, almost as if it were made from knowledge itself.

Two serpentine streaks were engraved onto the object, decorating the ring in a calculated and elegant manner.

One pattern showed a beautiful and elegant stream of blue metal, hints of orange and green in certain parts. When looking upon it, one would feel as if they were observing a beautiful aurora with their most cherished ones.

The other streak, while not as vibrant, was just as brilliant all the same. It was as if the creator of the ring had wanted to put an emphasis on contrast.

A majestic pattern of golden ivory, the hard-earned trophy won from a feral bicorn seemed to radiate fighting spirit as if its master was still here, ready to fight once more.

Finally, the feature stone, seeming to automatically place itself at the center of the work of art, took the position as the ring's most important component. Its crystalline body shone in the gentle moonlight, glistening like the most beautiful of all treasures. The saint quartz's rainbow majesty was something many would not be able to witness in many lifetimes. Had the material been known of throughout the world of magi, then a mere half-pound of it would cost an entire fortune.

Carved in the shape of a perfect circle, a separate, yet connected cross-like pattern was above the initial body, covering most of it. Needless to say, the feature stone was carved in the likeliness of the Round Table, a shield proven to be Mash's constant companion time and time again.

The precious materials seemed to resonate with each other all at once, emitting an aura showing a kaleidoscope of colors. This served to draw Mash's eyes to its center, where she could appreciate just how much effort had gone into the object's creation, and just exactly what it symbolized.

Ritsuka's cheeks flushed as she looked away for a brief moment, immediately turning her head towards Mash after the brief moment of weakness. She stared into the girl's violet eyes, resolve oozing from her own bronze ones.

"Since I've shown you this, you should know just what I'm asking, no?"

Mash, having realized just what was happening at this moment, felt the presence of warm liquid flowing down her now-flushed cheeks, an intense feeling of joy threatening to erupt from the girl's heart and swallow her whole.

Ritsuka smiled, her eyes glistening as if she were looking upon the most beautiful thing in the world, a loud declaration flowing out of the girl's lips as she softly grabbed Mash's left hand with her own, placing it before her kneeling form.

"Honestly, after everything that happened in our journeys, I'm surprised I didn't do this sooner."

The girl chuckled, humored by her past self.

"It's funny really. I charged directly at Goetia like it's nothing, took stabs to the heart without flinching, and chopped off my own limbs the same way that someone would rip off band-aids. But even when I did crazy stuff like that, I could never actually find the courage to do the thing most important to me."

Ritsuka's face hardened.

"I can't put it off any longer. Losing all of my servants made me realize that there were still things I was never able to tell them, feelings I never had the chance to share."

A nostalgic smile blossomed on the girl's face as her eyes glistened with tears.

"I wanted to tell Mom and Dad how glad I was to see them again, even if they weren't the exact same as before. I wanted to tell Scheherazade to be more confident, and that I would always love her stories. I wanted to tell Kuro to stop her little kissing rampages, or someone would do something nasty sooner or later. I-I wanted to t-tell Jack…"

A sob that Ritsuka could simply not hold back escaped her throat as she gazed upon the moon, reliving all the fun and endearing memories back at Chaldea. The girl's voice began to crack and strain as all of the fond images reemerged in her brain.

"I-I wanted to tell her that she's the c-cutest little girl in the whole w-world, and no one could ever change that, a-and that I would t-treasure her forever, n-no matter what happens."

Mash had almost forgotten about the ring, extending a hand forward to embrace her former master, only to stop as she realized that the girl needed to get this off her chest with her own power. She knew her own senpai this much at least.

Ritsuka's tears fell freely from her face, making soft pitter-patter sounds on the polished wooden balcony, her voice becoming more emotional, breaking, as it could not withstand the strain forced upon it.

"A-and… And I… I just… I just wanted to tell all of them that I loved them! And that I would never forget them no matter how many years passed! I wanted to tell them that I would take their memories and lessons with me to the end of my life! I wanted to thank them one last time for the things they've done for me!"

After pausing to calm herself for a few seconds, Ritsuka's voice became focused once more, her gaze returning to Mash. She was calm now, the sheer amount of resolve in her eyes threatening to escalate into a neverending inferno.

"In the end, I wasn't able to tell them any of that. Sure, I'm sure that everyone knew what I was going to say at the very end. We all knew each other on that level."

Ritsuka inhaled sharply, gathering her breath.

"Still, I'll regret not telling them all of that till the end of my days. I won't make that kind of mistake again. Even if the regret of my negligence will stay with me forever, I can at least get just one thing right at this moment."

The girl's eyes softened as her voice lowered, becoming serene once more.

Mash's eyes left the ring, focusing on Ritsuka completely.

Those bronze eyes never looked more beautiful, further enhanced by the dazzling smile on those vibrant lips.

Mash could feel all thoughts of doubt and negativity retreat from her mind, leaving only a passionate love for the woman before her.

There was a brief moment of silence, the only sounds present being the fervent pounding of the girls' hearts, and the whistle of the gentle night breeze.

Sensing that the right time has come, Ritsuka's gentle grip on Mash's hand tightened as her eyes filled with overwhelming love.

"Mash Kyrielight…"

The pale girl began to sob as the sheer amount of joy in her heart threatened to crush her entire being once more.

It was as if every single moment of her life only existed to lead her to this point. Every moment of pain, hardship, and cruelty, mere stones paving the path to this moment.

Finally. Mash had finally reached the end of the tunnel, seeing the brilliant light she had sought for so long.

As the girl's heart began to sing with sheer and utter happiness, the gentle breeze intensified, blowing back Ritsuka's luscious orange hair, causing it to sway gently in the wind.

At that moment, the two women stared deep into each other's eyes, their souls intimately connecting with each other. Both partners knew that there were no more secrets between them, no more hiding of their happiness and despair.

It was as if two fragments had combined to make a single object, never to be separated again. Twin shards becoming a single whole, signaling a bond never to be shattered.

As Ritsuka and Mash's love for each other rose to the highest they had ever been and will ever be, the former asked the question both had eagerly been anticipating, loading her whole existence into the words she was about to utter.

Clad in the soft shine of the gentle moon, Ritsuka reached the peak of her life. The most joyous moment in the girl's time on this Earth finally realized.

At that moment, she was more powerful than any god, more determined than any hero, more beautiful than the ever distant stars themselves. Fujimaru Ritsuka stood upon a peak that only she could ever reach, one towering above all the heavens and hells, surpassing the entire universe as a whole.

And thus, the most momentous words in Mash's life were uttered, forever resounding in the girl's soul for all of eternity.

"**Will you marry me?**"

They were seemingly simple words uttered by a seemingly simple individual, a girl who simply loved her family too much.

However, appearances could always be deceiving.

Those words contained all of the emotions Fujimaru Ritsuka had towards Mash, every single fond experience and memory, packaged into a mere five syllables.

For the two women, time itself seemed to still, as everything that had ever happened between them reemerged in their minds at the same time. Two years of love, despair, and joy resurfaced in an instant, causing a sudden influx of tears to leave their eyes.

Mash's body was almost overtaken by happy sobs at that moment. However, strengthening her body, she realized that she needed to give a proper answer, one befitting of the proposal Ritsuka had declared.

And so, a simple reply would be announced, an answer completely and utterly fitting of her.

The girl's face took on the most beautiful smile she had ever worn in her whole life, glistening trails of tears dripping from her pale, rosy cheeks.

The wind blew back her light-purple hair, revealing two dazzling amethyst orbs overflowing with emotion.

Thus, the most joyful words of the artificial human's life were uttered.

"Yes, Senpai."

Like Ritsuka's proposal, the answer was simply two words, devoid of any unnecessary meaning and explanation.

For there was simply nothing more to be explained.

The meaning behind those words could not be fully elaborated on even if someone were to spend a thousand years writing it down. They were only truly understood by Mash, and the beautiful woman kneeling before her.

As Ritsuka's expression became one of utter bliss, something that could only be shown once in a thousand lifetimes, the former demi-servant's expression became the exact same.

There was nothing else to be said between the two individuals. They knew everything about each other, from the greatest joys of their lives, to the darkest secrets lurking deep in the corners of their souls.

Both of the women could have died at this moment, and would have left the world with satisfied smiles on their faces. They had reached the highest point of their lives, and nothing afterward would ever be able to compare to this moment.

"_Doctor Roman… you once said that I would one day find true happiness with someone I love. I had no idea what you're talking at the time, but now… I think I understand."_

As Ritsuka gently slid the wedding ring over her fingers, Mash Kyrielight found herself looking back on her time with her surrogate-father.

"_So this is 'true happiness, huh?"_

She chuckled, causing Ritsuka to grin happily.

"_You were right, just as always. This the happiest feeling I have ever felt."_

And thus, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash Kyrielight reached the climaxes of their lives, gazing upon the moon with their heads held high and their arms embracing each other, two lovers, enjoying life on behalf of those who had gone on to the next life before them.

Finally, the true happy ending was actualized. A beautiful end for a beautiful hero. A joyous conclusion for a joyous story.

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_**SO YOU WOULD THINK...**_

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_**But IT'S NEVER THAT EASY…**_

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_**IS IT…?**_

**And… I added something really edgy at the end…**

**Well, I really got into this for some reason.**

**Guess I can say you guys can expect a part two of this template… I think?**


	2. An Abrupt End

It was cold. Really cold, as if the very sun had been snuffed out, the winter here to claim the world as its bounty.

This was by far the coldest winter in London in the past decade, the temperature dropping to below negative-three celsius.

People stomped away hurriedly on the snowy sidewalks and roads of the city, shivering in the cold, their breaths released in shuddering exhales.

As the unblemished snowflakes fell gently to the ground, elegant and beautiful, one girl amongst the busy streets merely smiled nostalgically, her eyes turned upwards, looking into the sky, almost as if there was some hidden jewel amongst the grey clouds.

As her vibrant orange hair fluttered in the winter breeze, the girl, clad in nothing but a fashionable black business suit, ignored the biting cold as if its chilling effects did not even exist, temperatures enough to cause frostbite shrugged off as if they were nothing but the bites of a lowly ant.

"_Ah… How nostalgic… Ivan… even if the cold's really not of the same intensity, this still reminds me of Russia. I wonder... if the Yaga saw all these people shivering in the cold as if their lives were about to end, what would they call them? Weak? Fragile? Unenduring? Well, it's not wrong. Compared to those tough guys, the humans of this age are like babies, spoonfed by their parents. Although… that's not exactly a bad thing."_

Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward, shoving her hands in her pockets, even when they were never cold in the first place.

"_I really wish I could have shown this place to you guys. You especially, Patxi…"_

Shaking her head viciously, Ritsuka shook off these emotions, becoming content with her current situation.

The human order had been reestablished, the Lostbelts destroyed. The Yaga would never be back. There was no changing that.

Ritsuka began to walk forward, back to the humble apartment she lived in with her wife.

Smiling fondly at the sight of the exquisite ring on her finger, the twenty-one-year-old woman remembered the night of her wedding.

She did not have the opportunity to wear her ring out in the open, as its appearance was sure to cause many issues.

However, for this certain occasion, she kept it hidden with an extremely specific rune written on her tailor-made glove.

It was the first anniversary of her wedding after all.

Ritsuka had joined the enforcers of the Clocktower to support her and Mash. The salary was surprisingly good, but not as she thought it would be.

There was no problem with that. Fujimaru Ritsuka wasn't the type of person who wanted to be rich.

However, her superiors had ordered her to track down and kill a renegade magus attempting to transform into a Dead Apostle.

Honestly, magi truly had no tact. Asking someone to work so brazenly on their wedding anniversary was not a very polite thing to do. However, magi would always be magi, uncaring bastards and almost inhuman existences. There was nothing to be done for that.

Ritsuka had hunted down the renegade magi and slaughtered him without complaint. Considering the man had been using the local populace as sacrifices for his experiments, she really had no qualms with it.

Once upon a time, the former master would have opposed such an action, but that time was long past. She was not the same naive girl from back then.

Ritsuka checked her watch, reading the time as 12:30 a.m.

"Damn, that really took too long. I started at seven in the morning too…"

Ritsuka began to tighten her muscles, preparing to jog to her house. After all, she didn't want to keep Mash waiting.

"_Oh, and that reminds me. I should ask Mash to give me back Avalon for a while. Even if it doesn't work anymore, there are still many things I could do with it."_

Avalon was passed down to Ritsuka from Emiya Shirou. Even if it exibited none of its regenerative capabilities, the man did not want it to be lost if he died.

Of course, that was around the same time she received the Tohsaka crest, increasing her magic circuit number from twenty to fifty. They were quite high-quality too.

The crest had done a lot for Ritsuka, as it allowed her to experiment with many spells secretly during her early childhood, especially her reinforcement. The spells within the crest were like crutches, making things much easier for her.

The girl had also begun to convert her nerves into magic circuits, not knowing exactly what she was doing.

First, she had done this in a completely accidental act, and it had brought her unimaginable pain, like a hot iron rod being shoved into her body.

However, she had kept doing this over and over again, until turning the entire nervous system was almost within her grasp.

Naturally, when Rin heard of this, she had been reduced to tears, slapping Ritsuka across the face for the first time. Shirou was equally worried, shuddering as he watched his wife confront his daughter.

When Rin had shouted at Ritsuka, demanding to know exactly what had influenced her to commit to such a dangerous and painful routine, the girl smiled sadly, as if she knew this was going to happen.

"Papa's always fighting, and Mama's always worried about both of us… So, I thought I could get stronger, so Mama doesn't have to worry as much. Maybe I can even help Papa one day!"

As she said this, the normally unshakeable Tohsaka Rin left the room, sobbing harder than she had done in a whole decade. She was the type of person who wouldn't show weakness even if her limbs were cut off. However, this kind of pain was simply too much for her.

Emiya Shirou stood in place, shell-shocked. He had married Rin all those years ago, but not quite letting go of his dream. Most of the time, he would travel around the world, helping all he could, even when he had a child and wife waiting for him in their house in London.

Both he and Rin decided not to inform their daughter of just how deadly his self-imposed missions were, but it was clearly shown from the constant bloodstains on his body and the exhausted form Shirou possessed when he returned home.

After a thorough scolding, Ritsuka lessened her self-experimentation to a large extent, but she kept going, even when her parents disapproved of it. After all, the protection of her family was worth more than simple physical pain and the possibility of danger.

This was the mindset Fujimaru Ritsuka possessed at the age of four, and it was the same even now.

Some of the experimentations the girl induced upon herself were permanently damaging, but with the help of certain healing jewels, it was as if they never existed.

Ritsuka winced as difficult memories assaulted her from her mental psyche, memories she did not want to experience again.

_A discolored body layed upon the floor of a dilapidated house, drained completely of its blood. Flies flew into the rotten eyes of the former human, worsening even further the already horrific sight._

_A girl stood in front of the door, staring incomprehensibly at the mutilated corpse of her mother, the carcass's shriveled eyes and mouth open in an expression of utter terror._

_At that moment, the world itself seemed to end. _

_The dead woman's husband had traveled to a foreign land, seeking to save all that he could. That man, while attempting to fulfill his dream, had his life cruelly snuffed out by the very people he strove to save._

_In the end, there was not even a body to bury. Such was the masses' misguided anger._

_The widowed woman, who had attempted to raise her child all alone, was now deceased, not even a month after the death of her husband. _

Ritsuka bit her upper lip to the point where it bled. This was not the time to be thinking of such things. Noone was able to change what had happened for the better. She had moved on from this a long time ago.

However, there was no true way to move on from such things. This could be seen reflected in her inner world, harboring even her most hidden of sides.

Yes, it could be called her reality marble, Ritsuka's own world. A place where her own thoughts are law.

Even if the world was strange, it was still there. However, the functions… seemed to be… incomplete for a lack of a better term.

Ritsuka was finally able to make use of it during the fifth Lostbelt, as her mentality had changed drastically, resembling the **Alien Common Sense** usually exhibited by Daemons.

She had adopted a particular mindset during a certain moment, and reached the conclusion of her mental state.

Moreover, the Alien God who she defeated at the end of her journey… seemed to grant Ritsuka some strange ability. It was something complex and related to Akasha, so natrually she could not understand it.

However, after the battle, Ritsuka seemed to know more about her servants than before, exhibiting great knowledge of their traits, biology, and weapons from seemingly nowhere.

Granted, this information was incomplete, but it was still strange….

None of this mattered in the current situation.

Ritsuka would probably never have to use her Reality Marble for a long time. After all, she would be on paid leave soon enough.

"_Ah… Where should we go? Mash would probably want to see the resting ground of the Round Table. Hmm… It's a shame, but I wanted to see Fuyuki again… Even if there are a lot of bad memories in that place, it's still where I grew up…"_

Suddenly, Ritsuka stopped thinking of such trivial things, twisting her neck to the right, eyes narrowed.

"_Hoh? What was that surge of magical energy? And the killing intent… I can literatly smell it from here. Can they be more obvious?"_

Turning to the direction of the surge, Ritsuka's form shifted into that of a person ready to run a ten-mile marathon, her body relaxing for a split second before spring forth like a freshly released arrow.

The legs, whether part of human or animal, beast or demon; existed to allow its user to travel with great speed and efficiency, whether to hunt down prey or to escape in the presence of an undefeatable enemy.

Theis propose was exactly the factor taken advantage of by reinforcement magecraft, something Ritsuka was exceptional at.

Legs were transformed into tools of pure momentum and velocity, forcefully breaking past all human limitations via the use of magecraft.

Ritsuka had a good grasp of a human's inner structures and biology from both her own experiences and tutoring from Florence Nightingale. Therefore, it could be said that she was a master of this particular type of magecraft, as the reinforcement of an object required the complete knowledge of its components and aspects.

Moving across the streets at a speed undetectable by the human eye, the girl left nothing behind but a massive gust of wind, greatly confusing nearby bystanders.

Sprinting towards her intended destination, Ritsuka had quickly covered a great deal of the distance by a large margin in just a few seconds.

It seemed to be closeby, so this was not unexpected.

As the former master approached the location of the disturbance, which seemed to be a building resembling an abandoned mansion, her brows furrowed.

Ritsuka had reinforced her eyes and ears to a certain degree in order to mentally keep up with her speed. Therefore, her sense of hearing was greatly amplified.

This lead to the girl being able to perceive the extremly peculiar noises which seemed to be originating from the dark and gloomy manor before her.

The building appeared to be at least a hundred years old, made from dark oak and stone. Rooms unlit, it greatly resembled a haunted house visited by young children, the only difference being that this specific mansion was much worse than a simple ghost could ever hope to make it.

However, what caught Ritsuka's attention the most was the rapid flapping noise that came from it. She could sense them. Hundreds, if not thousands of organisms moving their appendages, completely unsynchronized. It was a messy cacophony of sound, a nightmarish buzzing that promised nothing but despair.

The girl flinched, stopping in place.

"_No. It can't be him. It just can't."_

Perhaps she was overthinking this? _He _wasn't the only one to use bee families after all. Maybe it was someone similar to that annoying bee magus Kiritsugu had to deal with.

"_Please tell me it's not that guy…"_

Suddenly, the shattering of stone could be heard from outside the manor, a plume of dust rising from the window of a specific room.

Ritsuka grit her teeth.

It no longer mattered what she thought about the situation. The conflict inside that building was extremely suspicious at this point. Obviously, two or more magi were fighting. One of them had broken the bounded field obscuring their battle from the outside world.

Even if the mansion was located in an area nowhere near actual society, meaning that there would be no non-magus who would be able to observe the current phenomenon.

However, that did not mean Ritsuka was uninvolved. The sound of those bugs gave her a quite unpleasant premonition. Her instincts were telling her to find whatever manner of creature inhibited that shady house, and eliminate it for good.

Ritsuka's instincts were rarely wrong. After all, they had saved the girl multiple times on her adventures.

Therefore, reinforcing her legs to their limits, the girl leaped up at the glass window leading to the suspicious room.

The pavement she used as a medium to launch herself had been reduced to a meter-long dented hole, and Ritsuka herself seemed to vanish in a blur of blue, a hue given off by the magical energy from her circuits.

A millisecond after Ritsuka reached the window, she smashed it to bits using her left hand, momentum undeterred by any obstacle.

Raising her hands above her head to push against the high oak ceiling, the girl propelled herself downwards, sending her plummeting down onto the wooden floorboards.

The room seemed to be lit by some sort of strange purple chandelier, illuminated by suspicious discolored candles.

Ritsuka, now fully successful in the execution of her operation, did not praise herself for her success.

Instead, their girl's face twisted into a hateful snarl, a murderous glare radiating from her soft orange eyes towards the _thing _before her.

As Ritsuka's killing intent flared in the likeness of a brilliant flame, the girl spoke with all the disgust she had at her disposal.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

The girl's hands were in front of her, the magus projecting three sacred black keys in each, appearing in wisps of blue light. Those arms tensed, ready to attack at any moment, black keys gleaming sinisterly in the dull light of the chandelier, soft baleful flames making the blades an ominous sight.

Ritsuka's eyes narrowed as her magic circuits flared up. This would not be an easy fight. After all, the person before her was no simple magus.

He was a three-hundred-year-old monstrosity bent on achieving immortality, a revolting being unable to be killed unless his crest worms are destroyed.

A sadistic monster who cared nothing for the wellbeing of anyone other than himself. A grandfather who scorned his own grandson and tortured his adopted granddaughter in an attempt to make her a "worthy heir". A demon who prolonged his own wretched life through the life force of innocents, his soul rotting away like spoiled meat left on the roadside.

"MAKIRI ZOUKEN!"

In the corner of a poorly lit room, a gleam of interest entered the beady eyes of a wraith, long past his time.

A wretched smile appeared on an equally wretched face, transforming an already putrid visage into an utterly disgusting image.

"**Fujimaru Ritsuka... "**

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Bazett Fraga Mcremitz cursed her own weakness.

She was supposed to be the great descendant of the Fraga family, a powerful enforcer of the Mage's Association. She had almost never lost to any magus before, as she was someone ideal for hunting them down.

With her rune of resurrection and sword of retaliation, Bazett had the potential to kill even servants in the right circumstances.

So, how could something like this possibly happen?

Staring at the demented old man in front of her, surrounded by a wave of his disgusting insects, the woman felt nothing but dread.

Matou Zouken was unlike every Magi Bazett had faced. He was someone who could perfectly counter her punches and kicks without a worry in the world.

After all, his body was made from a multitude of worms, able to evade or regenerate from most attacks.

If Bazett wanted to kill the old man, she would have to exterminate all of his worms.

She wasn't naive enough to think that someone like her would actually be able to defeat such a monster. Even the Ansuz runes she had at her disposal would not be enough to destroy all of Zouken's worms.

Besides, knowing how careful the old man was, his current body surely did not bring with it all of his disgusting familiers

No, without a doubt, there were many of them hidden away in some dark alleyway, waiting for his consciousness to be transferred to them in the case of a miscalculation.

Bazett grit her teeth as she knelt on one knee, exhausted.

She had no idea how Matou Zouken, who possessed somewhat cordial relations with the Mages' Association could suddenly have a sealing designation placed on his head, and she really didn't care. Bazett would do her job and be done with it.

There was also a suspicious masked executor who came with her, determined to put an end to Zouken's evil. This was done in response to the old man's killings.

Bazett had taken the priest up on his offer to join forces. She was hesitant at first because… well… the first time she trusted a man of the cloth, it didn't go very well.

However, even if this priest felt ominous, it was the best course of action to accept his aid. She would be dealing with the infamous Matou Zouken after all, one of the creators of the Holy Grail. No effort should be spared in the procedures to insure his death.

In the end, it was a bad idea to bring that shady priest, as he had mysteriously disappeared during the battle.

Now, Bazett knelt before her enemy, almost completely drained of magical energy.

Mocking words were about to exit Zouken's twisted mouth, but he was subsequently interrupted by the arrival of a new variable.

Just as Bazett was about to muster all of her remaining prana to enact a final, futile counterattack, a loud crash could be heard from outside the manor she was in.

The woman watched, wide-eyed, as Fujimaru Ritsuka leaped into the room with nimble movements befitting of an acrobat.

To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Out of all people, Ritsuka was the last one Bazett expected to be here.

After the unfortunate deaths of Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou, in addition to the unresolved mystery of Luvia Edelfelt's assassination, it was up to either Bazett or Sakura to raise her.

Bazett, having lived in Shirou's house for a long period of time, was considered something of a family friend and surrogate mother, so naturally, she considered it her responsibility to raise Ritsuka herself.

Sakura, although the blood relative of Rin, was not in a very stable household, and Matou Shinji and Matou Zouken could not be trusted around a small child, so, unfortunately, she was not an option.

Bazett still remembered the day she first met Ritsuka. The girl's face was completely blank, devoid of emotion. Her dull, orange eyes were completely blank, as if she was a soulless husk. The sight utterly horrified Bazett back then, as the Ritsuka she knew was vibrant, energetic, and overall, a very expressive child.

Seeing her like that… did not do well for Bazett's heart…

Now, seeing the same girl from back then, who had accomplished so much, Bazett could only gasp as a well-trained back was placed in front of her, blocking her from harm.

Inwardly, the woman smiled.

The little girl from back then would have either been terrified or uncaring about the current situation. They were a child back then, after all.

However, the current Ritsuka stood proud and tall, weapons poised and ready to strike at her opponent.

It didn't matter why she was here, or how she arrived. All that mattered… was the simple fact that she was present.

Bazett smirked.

"_If the Tohsaka jewel magecraft is to be used in this situation, Zouken will be at a disadvantage. He is extremely adept at fighting me. However, those worms of his will never reach Ritsuka."_

Her injuries all but forgotten, Bazett flooded with pride.

"_Go on Ritsuka! Show that man the strength you have achieved!"_

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Ritsuka looked behind her, seeing Bazett for the first time.

She wasn't sure what her former surrogate mother was doing here, and she really had no time to care at the moment. Taking her eyes off of Zouken was already a big enough risk.

Every trace of the girl's mind needed to be focused on how to defeat the monster before her, or else she would surely regret it.

Therefore, talking to Bazett without taking her eyes off of Zouken, Ritsuka successfully communicated with her without too much danger.

"Bazett-nee. Get out of here, I'll handle this."

Thanks to her reinforced senses, Ritsuka felt the air shift as Bazett nodded before getting up into a sprinting form and jumping out of the window. She would only be a liability if she stayed, nothing but a potential hostage for the enemy.

Zouken merely watched, amused at this.

"Int-"

Ritsuka did not give him any more time to speak, launching her black keys at the old man.

Of course, they were blocked by Zouken's crest worms, but this allowed Ritsuka to cover the distance at least a little.

Zouken was about to speak again, but not before Ritsuka pointed her index and middle finger at him in a form akin to a finger gun.

"**Gandr."**

What formed was a massive orb of black energy, surrounded by an aura of malignant red. The orb, created in front of Ritsuka's fingers, seemed to compress itself into a smaller sphere, condensing and condensing until it was no more than the size of a marble.

Ritsuka let the shot fly, aiming directly at Zouken's head.

Instantly, a black bullet, pulsing with red lightning, pierced through Zouken's flying crest worm shield, hitting the old man right between the eyes and embedding itself on the wall behind him before dissipating.

"Wha-"

Ritsuka dashed forward. The old man had not employed any barriers in his hubris, thinking himself immortal. That was a perfect factor to take advantage of.

The Gandr spell was intended to be a curse, not a true attack spell. From the start, it was supposed to inflict curses and decrease the physical wellbeing of the opponent.

Ritsuka's Gandr was barely a Gandr at all. It would be better known as a Finn shot, similar to the ones employed by her mother. A curse so condensed that it could inflict physical damage similar to a bullet.

However, there was one massive difference between Rin and Ritsuka's Finn shots.

That difference was in power.

Tohsaka Rin used her shots in a way that resembled an SMG. Every shot was medium quality, imbued with a tiny sliver of her prana. They would make up for their lack of speed and power in strength with sheer firing speed, as barrages could be utilized to wear down the enemy.

Ritsuka's Gandr was not like this.

Instead of creating half-hearted, medium damage shots, she poured everything into a singular bullet, condensing it into a small orb for added speed, penetration, and explosive power. Naturally, the power of the curse was much stronger than normal, able to slow a servant down for a fraction of a second.

That fraction of a second was not impressive on paper, but when two servants fight, slowing down a hundredth of a microsecond could be the difference between life and death.

Of course, she could only use this once every five seconds.

If Rin's Gandr was the mage's equivalent of a machine gun, then Ritsuka's Gandr would be a sniper rifle.

In the current situation, As Ritsuka watched her bullet pierced through Zouken's head, she inwardly smirked.

"_The curse definitely got to him from that. I didn't put my all into it, but he's definitely slower now."_

Ritsuka dashed forward on reinforced legs, avoiding the stunned crest worms, her body acting speeding forth like it was a heat-seeking missile.

"_For all the trouble you've given me in my childhood! For all the things you did to aunt Sakura! I will judge you today, monster! This ends now!"_

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Bazett landed on the paved stone road outside the manor, wheezing for breath as the rest of her mana dissipated.

"_I should escape. Ritsuka does not need my help in this situation. After all, there is nothing I can do."_

Therefore, gathering her strength, the woman commanded her failing legs to move, to run back to base and acquire reinforcements if needed.

However, it would seem that Bazett would never have the chance to do such a thing.

After all… she was already…

A bloody cough resounded across the mansion's courtyard, a heady glob of blood smacking onto the stone ground with a morbid noise.

"W-Wha-"

Bazett's eyes dilated as she noticed the Azoth sword which that her heart, going all the way through her body.

"_**There is no need to worry. After all, you will not be able to do anything past this point."**_

Bazett had already used her resurrection rune against Zouken, and this new attacker obviously did not use their strongest attack, meaning that the effects of Fragarach were worthless in this situation.

Turning her head for the last time, the woman finally saw the face of her murderer.

"Kuh! Impossible! How are you… still…"

A wet, sharp noise could be heard as the Azoth sword was slid out of the woman's heart, her lifeless body falling to the ground.

The low-pitched chuckles of a demented entity could be heard throughout the courtyard, as if mocking Bazett for her very existence.

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As Ritsuka dashed towards the temporarily stunned Matou Zouken, she immediately knew that she could not kill him with the tools at her disposal.

Even if she engulfed the old man in an explosion, the worms he kept elsewhere would simply inherit his personality again. The old geezer was a wraith, after all.

Therefore, reaching forward with her reinforced Azoth sword, Ritsuka looked deep within herself, to the depths of her soul.

There was definitely something within her reality marble capable of defeating Zouken, and she was determined to find it.

If Emiya Shirou's world was a steel-clad forge, filled with the weapons of countless heroes, then Ritsuka's world was a starry night sky, filled with the lives and dreams of those same heroes.

Or at least, that was what it was supposed to be.

Right now, Ritsuka's reality marble took the shape of a flat area of grassy land, encompassed by all-consuming darkness.

If not for the towering golden apple tree behind her, emanating a gentle light towards its close surroundings, Ritsuka would have been completely blind.

Ritsuka knew in her heart that this was supposed to be a grassy plain illuminated by stars. This was what her soul told her.

Then, where were those stars that she insisted were there?

The night sky was illuminated by nothing by a flickering purple dot, flickering dangerously as if it was about to be put out.

It was apparent that if that star fell, then there would only be eternal darkness in Ritsuka's world.

Was this phenomenon because of a lack of optimism in Ritsuka's heart? Was it simply because of the darkness of her soul?

No, it was not. Normally, her reality marble would contain the complete data of every single servant she had ever summoned. Normally, there should be a beautiful starry night, highlighting the articulate green grass below.

The reason for this darkness was simply because Ritsuka did not have enough information to truly materialize her reality marble, which was exactly why she was never able to use it.

After all, to actualize the truth of heroic spirits, one needed the utmost amount of information about them, from the exact number of hair strands to the precise placement of skin molecules.

Naturally, a human would never have access to this information, no matter how much they studied. After all, not even the Heroic Spirits themselves knew so much.

Even so, Ritsuka's unbreakable bond with her servants stood tall, her love for her friends acting as a barrier she could not surpass.

If she was to use her friends' abilities and weapons, then they would have to be perfect to the very last detail. Any less than that was akin to blasphemy, unfaithfulness.

This got to the point where it influenced her reality marble, which was originally supposed to materialize the basic ideals of every hero, turning them into weapons she could summon at any time.

After a while, that changed, as Ritsuka got to know her servants more. Almost subconsciously, her soul decided that it would not accept something flimsy as basic ideals anymore. If she was to truly honor her friends by fighting with their, power, she needed the genuine article, not some conceptual crystallization of ideals.

And this lead to a unique roadblock, a roadblock only Fujimaru Ritsuka would ever face.

With a strict reality marble like this, she was unable to utilize almost anything from it, as complete knowledge about her heroic spirits were not imprinted in her mind.

Therefore, the reality marble simply shut down, as there was insufficient data for its use.

Her run-in with the Alien God seemed to change that.

Whatever that entity meant by his complex words detailing something of a link, it seemed to permanently change Ritsuka's soul. No one knew exactly what happened, but it would seem that there was now a massive disturbance within her inner self.

Now, She could see many things, things that were impossible to observe before.

In fact, the level of information she somehow… just knew, was almost disturbing.

However, when Ritsuka focused on her inner world with extreme concentration, she saw _something_.

Perhaps it could be equated to a golden portal, or a spiral gateway. The shape seemed to change every millisecond, becoming something strange, something normal, and something incomprehensible in a single moment.

Located on the base of her golden apple tree, the rift in reality seemed to be ominous, but not sinister. It would appear that the rift's nature was neutral.

As Ritsuka approached that same portal, she could suddenly _hear _things.

It was as if a thousand whispers entered her ears at the same time.

However, the situation wasn't even that kind.

With those whispers came visions, memories, emotions, and so much more.

The elated joy of having slain an evil dragon.

The satisfaction of finding a worthy adversary.

The pain of a thousand tortures.

The joy of a life-long love.

Ritsuka's brain was swarmed by incredible amounts of information, more than anyone was prepared to take on at once.

The girl, while surprised, was not deterred.

No, she had a job to do, and she needed a certain ability in order to do it. That ability just happened to require her accessing the portal.

It was that simple.

So, blocking her mind off from the voices, visions, and emotions which threatened to consume it, the girl tread onwards.

Every step took the same energy of climbing a mountain, and every second served to bring further chaos to her mind.

However, eventually, Ritsuka reached the portal. It was just like always. No matter the hardships, no matter the difficulty, Fujimaru Ritsuka manages to find a path through it, no matter what.

Extending forth her right hand, Ritsuka touched the dimensional vortex which took on the shape of a portal, convinced that what she needed was within it.

As soon as her hand touched the portal, the world seemed to explode.

It was as if the entire reality marble vanished in a brilliant explosion of white.

The sudden, all-encompassing brightness was too much for the girl's eyes, adjusted to the dark shade of her reality marble, forcing her to close them.

Ritsuka clenched her teeth as the pain of the light transition struck her eyes, covering them with a hand.

"Tch!"

After a few seconds, Ritsuka opened her eyes once more, just to see exactly what happened, and any possible damage that was done to her mental scape.

Ritsuka had a slight inkling that she knew exactly what the strange portal was, and her mind simply refused to comprehend it, but that was both uncertain and better discussed at another time.

Now, Ritsuka had to see just exactly what happened to her reality marble, sweeping her eyes across the world to get a better sense of it.

"_W-What the hell is this?!"_

A justifiable reaction, as Ritsuka's world had changed, perhaps into a form even better than the one she envisioned.

The previous unlit plain, ominous and unpleasant, was now lit by the light of three-hundred stars, every single one of the celestial orbs completely brimming with power.

Majestic pseudo-suns burned with heat unimaginable to man, threatening to consume all in their transcendent glory.

Divine stars shone with a surplus of righteousness and majesty, demanding awe from all who observed them.

Dark, malevolent orbs churned seethed in the night sky, releasing flames of anger and hatred unable to be soothed by anything in existence.

Ritsuka could only stare wide-eyed, as her entire world had transformed into something truly wonderful.

Looking back at the golden apple tree, the portal was still present, albeit not releasing so many memories this time.

Whatever had happened, it allowed her access to the one thing she didn't have. A complete record of her servants.

Naturally, such a thing was extremly suspicious, no doubt some sinister ploy by the Alien God. However, Ritsuka was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Looking around the starry sky, Ritsuka smiled, knowing that each individual orb represented one of her beloved servants.

Oh, how she wished to stay, to experiment with this power! Perhaps she could even resurrect some of her ost friends!

"Tch!"

Ritsuka clenched her fists.

That would never happen. After all, the Alien God had cursed her.

Again, that incomprehensible deity had muttered some strange spiel in an attempt to do something.

Mere seconds before he was banished to his place of origin, the immensely powerful being had imprinted his will upon the throne of heroes with the last of his strength.

The curse… was the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to Ritsuka, being one of the reasons she felt that the last battle was a hollow victory.

When a Servant met its end, it would leave the physical plain, back to the Throne of Heroes, where it would be assimilated back into the true soul of the hero, imprinting its memories onto them.

However, whatever the Alien god did, it nullified this.

Proving yet again just how immensely influential it was, the Alien God's curse directly made changes to the spiritual origins of every single servant under the command of Fujimaru Ritsuka, inflicting a unique effect upon them.

This effect basically made the servants incapable of remembering the existence known as Fujimaru Ritsuka, along with all of her exploits, achievements, and relations with them.

Instead of completely wiping those memories away, the curse seals them instead. This meant that whenever a heroic spirit attempted to find the existence known as Fujimaru Ritsuka in their memories, as well as anything that has to do with them, then the heroic spirit will not be able to remember anything, as if there was a titanium wall blocking them off from those memories.

"_**D**_**eS**_**p**_**A**_**i**_**R, Fu**_**j**_**IM**_**a**_**r**_**U**_**Ri**_**Ts**_**U**_**k**_**a+-*?!**_**,**_**S**_**oO**_**N, Y**_**o**_**U Sh**_**a**_**LL **_**B**_**ecOm**_**E**_**An E**_**nt**_**iTy **_**Cl**_**osE**_**r**_ _**T**_**o My Ex**_**i**_**Sta**_**nC**_**E+=-*#?!"**

Those words still brought nightmares to Ritsuka today. She had no idea what they meant, only that they brought an awful premonition.

Moreover, it would appear that the newfound link that had been permanently chained to her soul was probably due to the god's actions too. Although, why he would aid her was a mystery within itself.

Even so, Ritsuka was heartbroken when Da Vinci's scans revealed the changes to her servants' spirit origins.

She had never wanted anyone in her old world to remember who she was. Ritsuka simply wanted her friends and family to acknowledge her existence, even when they are gone. That was essntially how she got over the loss of her servants after the events of Solomon, comforting herself with the fact that they would remember her for all of eternity.

But now, even the ones who before, would never be able to remember her again. Her existence was now something akin to a forbidden zone for her owl loved ones, something that they would never be able to remember ever again.

Ritsuka shook her head.

"_It's fine. I've already made my peace with this. Let's just get my job over with."_

Smiling sadly, Ritsuka looked upon her own night sky, her heart dragging her vision towards the star representing the servant whose power would help the most in this situation.

Smiling, Ritsuka extended forth her hand, enclosing it over the image of a shining azure orb, surrounded by strands of purple lightning.

Making a motion of crushing the conceptualized image of her friend with her right hand, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled.

"You were always so reliable, ya know that?"

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Ritsuka, now finding herself back in the material plane, rapidly expanded the size of her reality marble, hosting it within her own body.

This technique had helped her somewhat, and she had become proficient with it in record time. She had heard that another person was proficient in using it like this… someone called Chaos?

Well, that didn't matter right now. Ritsuka had gained proficiency in this technique before, and now she was a master at it.

Taking in the heroic spirit's bodily data, she integrated it onto her own body, merging nerves, bones, and organs. This was a complete replication of the Heroic Spirit, from its memories to its body. It could be described as a high-level possession, where the spirit imposed its physical and mental data onto the host, almost reaching the soul itself.

This brought with it knowledge and expertise in all of the Heroic Spirit's weapons, armor, and noble phantasms, even if those were not something they possessed in life.

If Emiya Shirou was someone who copied the weapons of Heroic Spirits, integrating them into his own arsenal, then Fujimaru Ritsuka was someone who copied the Heroic Spirit's entire existence, hosting it within herself.

Like father, like daughter.

Suddenly, a flash of blue entered Ritsuka's normally orange eyes, a multitude of changes happening within her body instantaneously.

Surges of memories, emotions, and sensations filled her mind as the azure star expanded more and more inside of her, eventually morphing into a whole internal system.

As the memories flooded Ritsuka's mind, she smiled wryly.

"_Yep, these memories are just about what I'd expect from you. You act cold and heartless sometimes, but there's something in there. It just doesn't like to show very often."_

Suddenly, a dagger appeared in Ritsuka's outstretched hand, simple and plain.

Her eyes were a whole other matter, however, glowing a light azure blue, streaks of pink lightning circling within its center.

Ritsuka closed in on Zouken, the knife quickly swiping towards his exposed worm neck.

"_I can see it! I can see where his life ends! All I need to do is to trace this line!"_

Indeed, there was a line within her vision that would end the old man's life instantly when traced.

Eager for Zouken's death, Ritsuka reinforced her arm, bringing down the knife much quicker than humanly possible.

This was a strike that should have kill anyone hit by it, no matter who they were. Not even the slippery old worm could evade the knife signaling his complete demise.

Or… at least that was what Ritsuka thought.

However, at the last possible second, the worms making up Zouken's body shifted to the side, moving his line of death sharply in their direction.

Ritsuka, staring at her knife in alarm, realized that she had missed.

"_Hell! How did this guy recover so quickly?!"_

Forced to bend her upper body backward to evade a swarm of flying crest worms, Ritsuka blocked out the words originating from her enemy's mouth.

"_Nothing good ever comes out of it anyways."_

Speeding towards Zouken on reinforced legs, two mystic eyes stared forth, as if attempting to evaluate his soul itself.

These were the eyes of Ryogi Shiki, ?the **Mystic Eyes of Death Perception**. Eyes that would allow its user to trace the lines of death, resulting in the iment demise of whatever was traced.

As long as something has a beginning and an end, it could be traced. And if it was traced, then it would die.

However, this ability would be impossible to achieve if not for Shiki's third personality, which possessed a connection to Akasha itself. Using the eyes for a great amount of time would put unimaginable stress on the body, if not impossible without her help.

Ritsuka knew this, but still held onto the ability nonetheless.

How she was able to do this was unknown even to her.

All she knew was that it came from that strange golden portal within her reality marble, the portal which leads to a place she did not know of, but seemed to be familiar with.

It was a sensation indescribable by human words, not meant to be experienced by mankind.

Still, even after acknowledging this, Ritsuka still pressed on, dashing towards the nimble Matou Zouken, who was hurriedly avoiding her blows.

She would do one thing at a time. That would be the best answer to all of this.

Reinvigorating herself, Ritsuka mustered up her energy, reinforcing her legs to their limits.

Perhaps Zouken was mocking her, perhaps he was not. She didn't know, and she didn't care.

All that mattered was that the old bastard died.

Ritsuka had learned a thing or two about listing to villain monologues. Only listen to the good ones, not the strange, ridiculous speeches that a worm like Zouken would create. He would just use the time for some kind of trap anyways.

Pressing on with her knife, Ritsuka pursued Matou Zouken within the enclosed room for a whole minute before the old man lept out a window to the outside. His familiars didn't work on Ritsuka, as she was too fast for them to catch.

A slightly exhausted Ritsuka followed, landing onto the pavement with a loud thud.

The girl narrowed her eyes.

"I see. Matou Zouken. You are somehow extraordinarily fast, even when you have no right to be with that body."

A flaky blue light gathered onto an enclosed palm, Ritsuka's knife disappearing, her eyes returning to normal.

Her voice was dead serious, with none of the usual spunk or humor normally associated with it.

This was an ancient family enemy she had to take down. There was no disputing that.

"Very well, old worm. I'll humor you."

The tiny flakes of blue congregated together, forming a round, pristine golden apple, fitting neatly on Ritsuka's palm.

The girl now had a stoic grin on her face, as if victory was completely assured.

"I'll make sure to crush you thoroughly in this little contest of speed!"

Ritsuka took a large bite of the golden apple, feeling its honey-like juice flow down her throat.

This apple was not just a common fruit summoned from a Heroic Spirit's history.

No, the fruit could be said to be something Fujimaru Ritsuka made up in her world as a tribute to something else.

During her adventures, Ritsuka and her servants encountered the fabled golden apples, alike, yet unalike the ones from Greek mythology.

They did not possess curses, and managed to cure fatigue, starvation, as well as supply a large amount of magical energy when ingested.

Needless to say, these priceless fruits were something Ritsuka abused to the utmost of her ability.

Eating her supply of golden apples, her servants could afford to go all out without causing her any harm. She basically became a massive refillable pot of energy.

These fruits saved Ritsuka many times against her enemies, multiple times in each singularity.

Although she lost access to them int he Lostbelts, the fruits were engraved in her physique as a symbol of refilling, objects so momentous that they appeared within Ritsuka's inner world, perfectly replicated.

Perhaps this was supposed to be her original reality marble? Before she had found a true appreciation for her servants?

Either way, it could not be denied that the girl had a massive, towering golden apple tree within her reality marble, giving her access to an infinite amount of ripe apples, ready to harvest.

Of course, bringing those apples to the material world was a massive difficulty, as it would require breaking Gaea's laws.

Golden Apples were extremly cheap in terms of mana. All Ritsuka had to do was simply drag them out of her reality marble.

That said, they produced a massive amount of magical energy, more than enough to boost Ritsuka's prana to levels higher than they were originally.

This phenomenon was something that absolutely and utterly broke the laws of equivalent exchange, incurring The World's annoyance.

In practice, the golden apples gave the user much less magical energy than they were supposed to, losing more and more of its continued existence in the world.

Still, these apples were cheat items, items that would make any magus growl in jealousy if they heard of it. Items that Ritsuka had just discovered today, but still knew what to do with, as it was within her reality marble.

Feeling the increase in her prana storage, the girl nodded.

"_This should be enough."_

Ritsuka reached within her reality marble again, letting go of the data of Ryogi Shiki.

"_I'm sorry, Shiki-san… I wasn't able to utilize your abilities properly… Please don't be mad?"_

Sighing in shame, the girl moved on to another Heroic Spirit that would allow her to defeat her enemy. A heroic spirit that could destroy souls, if possible.

Zouken, being the wraith he was, practically could not die by any other means.

Therefore, Ritsuka looked upon her bountiful sky, and grasped a star with her hand, as if crushing it with passionate intent.

The star, a dark blue sphere, oozing with black flame, seemed to shine in approval, increasing its brilliance a second before it was chosen.

"_Yes, you would definitely approve, wouldn't you? After all… this is revenge for a whole decade of grief the old worm has inflicted on my mother and aunt. Perhaps you would even be proud?"_

Ritsuka made a motion of crushing the star, taking it within her body.

As the flames of darkness encroached on her body and soul, the girl had a satisfied smirk on her face.

After all, there was no way Zouken would be getting out of this one alive.

As her body fully incorporated the Heroic Spirit, a special magic circuit and crest imposed upon her very soul, Fujimaru Ritsuka chuckled, a dark aura permeating from her every pore.

"Kukukukuku…kukukuku."

And then… Matou Zouken… found the true meaning of fear.

Chuckles transformed into full-blown laughter as the black flame of hell and void covered the girl's body like an infernal blanket.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The dark flames were raging now, as if attempting to consume its own master.

Amidst that fire, a single predatory eye shone through it all. A malevolent orb of gold, glaring straight into Zouken's soul.

They were the eyes of a disgraced noble, a monster of vengeance whose only purpose in life was death and suffering.

The King of the Cavern, the Count of Monte Cristo, it did not matter what he was called. All that mattered to this man was revenge, something he had achieved with methods superior to all others.

In fact, the man's tale of vengeance was so profound, so brilliant, that it had been declared the best of its kind. This resulted in the man himself being well known by all, standing atop all others as the greatest Avenger who had ever lived.

**Edmond Dantès**, the man who had escaped from the infamous prison Château d'If, engulfing his targets in an inferno of revenge. This was the person who Fujimaru Ritsuka had taken into herself, the person whose powers she was borrowing to enact her own vengeance.

The black flames dispersed from Ritsuka, who was clothed in a dark-blue cloak covering her body to the knees. A fedora of the same color worked in harmony with her hair, now disheveled, to cover Ritsuka's right eye, as if adding a layer of mystery to her appearance.

The memory link hit her quickly and suddenly, giving the girl no time to prepare.

"Kukuku… this pain… this suffering! Edmond! Your determination is far beyond even what I envisioned! To survive this much, yet still capable of wearing a dignified smile upon your face! Kukuku… I definitely underestimated you, my Count."

Now completely focused on Zouken, that single golden eye, burning with hatred, seemed to grow into a neverending inferno.

Ritsuka's cloak, made from her mana, was again engulfed in the flames of the void, giving her the appearance of a demon of vengeance.

The girl's mouth curled in a murderous grin, proving her superiority over her foe.

Needless to say, Edmond's larger than life personality had bled into hers.

It was only natural. When you were given access to a whole other person's memories, it would only make sense that some of them would enter your psyche.

Rather, it was not the Count's personality that was incredible in this situation, it was Ritsuka's individuality. Just the fact that her mental state was mostly unchanged was a gigantic show of her sense of self.

"Now, Zouken. Death has finally come for you. After all those years of living, pathetically clutching to this realm with your filthy paws, your needlessly long life is about to be cut short as if it is nothing more than a sheet of paper!"

The cloak of fire around Ritsuka developed into an all-encompassing inferno, completely covering a radius of one meter around her body.

Zouken, who must have understood the soul-destroying properties of the fire, almost froze in fear at the sight of the monster before him.

"Despair, old worm! Look upon your death, and know true defeat! This is **Monte Cristo Mythologie**! The soul-devouring flame! The same flame that shall burn away your existence until it is naught but cinders!"

Ritsuka's hidden eye twitched as she reevaluated what she just said.

"_Edmond, you are definitely not a good influence on me."_

In truthfulness, the flames of the void had been taking large chunks of her prana reserves, still generated by her own magical circuits, even if transformed by her reality marble.

"_Yeah, I would say my reserves are at 47% right now. Not very ideal…"_

Taking a deep breath, Ritsuka willed Edmond's flames to increase in intensity, even if it meant that her prana reserves would be diminished.

"Now, Matou Zouken! You shall decide! Will you be a coward and run with your tail between your legs, or accept your extermination with pride and dignity, befitting one of your status?!"

Ritsuka did not wait for an answer, as a certain word was already on her lips, ready to be spoken at any time.

"_It really doesn't matter what he does. He'll be dead either way."_

Zouken turned tail and retreated as fast as he could, worms following him hurriedly. He knew for a fact that there was nothing in his arsenal that could defeat his enemy.

"_Well, fight or flight, I guess? Whatever, I'll be killing him now."_

Eyeing the fleeing Zouken, Ritsuka took a running position, focusing her flames onto the soles of her feet.

Looking back upon Edmond's memories and finding its defining moments, she spoke the words which symbolized his impossible escape from the prison of nightmares. His noble phantasm, which carried with it the very concept of escape.

"**Enfer…"**

Zouken turned around, his eyes widening in fear at the sight of Edmond's ability, as he truly recognized it for what it was.

"**Château d'If!"**

It was a noble phantasm. The ability to escape from anything and everything the user viewed as a prison, even if it was something as abstract as time or space.

This gave Ritsuka the power to move as fast as her speed of thought, which was infinitely faster than a normal person's thanks to the aid of Edmond Dantès, whose mind was that of a genius'.

In other words, **Enfer Château d'If** granted Ritsuka the ability to move at a speed nearing that of light's, essentially causing the same effect as a time stop.

And in this world of apparently stopped time, the Count of Monte Cristo reigned supreme.

The clouds in the sky stopped moving, their endless bounty of snow having already frozen midair.

The gentle breeze, which had swept across the entire mansion, suddenly stopped in its tracks, as if nonexistent.

Even the rustles of the withered sakura trees had stopped, their branches completely still.

It was like a painting, a realistic portrait of the world that seemed real, but fake at the same time.

After all, no one could stand being isolated in a frozen world for long. The sheer lack of socialization would drive them mad.

However, for the former master, this was no issue, as she couldn't use this noble phantasm for that long anyway.

"_One second has passed."_

Ritsuka leaped into the air, launching black flames from her feet as a method to propel herself forward.

Every second of time drained almost 20% of her total mana reserves, so she needed to end this quickly.

Landing next to Zouken, who appeared to be frozen in time, mouth wide in an expression of horrifying realization, Ritsuka smiled.

"_Stupid old geezer. I've wanted to do this for a long time now. Thanks for the opportunity!"_

A black flame formed within Ritsuka's hand, easily the size of her head, hungrily lapped up its surroundings like a starved beast.

This flame, as willed by its master, immediately compressed itself into a spherical shape, fitting into her palm as a compact blue sphere of energy.

"_Ironic, isn't it, Zouken? Two centuries of life spent on endless research, honing family techniques, and developing heirs, cut short by a mere girl, two decades of age."_

Ritsuka laughed, shoving the sphere of energy into Zouken's body like a bullet through a wet tissue.

"_It ends now, worm. No man, woman, or child will ever be harmed by your actions ever again!"_

The compressed orb was released within Zouken's body, creating a massive, all-engulfing explosion comparable to an airstrike.

As the azure orb expanded, everything within a five-meter radius was completely erased without a trace of their existence, forming a massive hold in the pavement.

Turning her back on the congregation of worms that didn't exist anymore, Ritsuka snapped her fingers.

"Two seconds have passed."

The world returned to normal, everything regaining the motion they once had.

Of course, this was just from Ritsuka's perspective. It wasn't as if she had slowed things down. The experience simply came from the fact that she sped herself up.

Huffing and puffing in the cold, the coat and fedora she wore dissipated into flakes of blue prana, as they were no longer needed.

Straitening out her suit, the girl sighed as she dismissed Edmond Dantès from her body.

"_Well, that took a large toll on my magic circuits, even if Edmond's super overpowered ones overlapped on it. Moreover, I have about 1% of my total mana left. Yep, I totally underestimated the sheer mana cost of that noble phantasm."_

However, the crisis was already over, as Zouken's body had been completely erased from the material world, along with a chunk of his mansion. Moreover, Ritsuka had already checked if her flames had eaten away his soul already, and the answer seemed to be yes.

Even if the old man was a wraith, there was no escaping the flames of **Monte Cristo Mythologie**. That exploding orb had annihilated Zouken's soul along with his body, killing him before he even knew what happened.

"_Well, it looks I have enough prana to at least pull out a golden apple from my reality marble. Guess I'll eat it and get some energy back."_

As the golden apple materialized in Ritsuka's hand in a congregation of blue particles, she was already bringing it to her mouth, jaws eagerly awaiting the sugary treat.

The original golden apples Ritsuka had discovered were extremly sweet, but not too much so. They were a perfect balance of sweet and sour, crunchy and juicy.

Her reality marble had replicated that as best as it could, and so far, it seems to have succeded.

"_Alright. After I eat this, I'm checking on Bazett-nee, and after that, I'm going to go home. Hopefully, Mash won't too mad I'm late. I want us to do something special tonigh-"_

A soft thud could be heard as Ritsuka's apple fell to the ground, colliding with the pavement.

Mere seconds later, a sharp, wet cough could be heard, the sound of viscous liquid splattering against the ground following suit.

"_**Rejoice, Fujimaru Ritsuka… for your folly has come to an end."**_

Ritsuka looked downwards, staring unbelievingly at the gloved fist protruding from her chest.

She could feel strength rapidly losing her body, the golden apple she had conjured earlier disappearing in a dispersing wave of blue particles.

Her would-be assassin's hot breath impacted against her neck due to his close proximity, sending shivers up Ritsuka's spine.

Despite the sharp pain coursing throughout her body, Ritsuka simply chuckled at the unpleasant surprise, as if she had expected it all along.

No, it could be said that she always expected something like this to happen, for her assailant was more resilient than a cockroach. He was simply someone she could never manage to get rid of. Therefore, taking advantage of Ritsuka's weakened state was just something he would do naturally.

"Kukuku. Yes, I suppose this is indeed thanks to my own folly."

She twisted her neck as far back as it could go, a bloodthirsty grin upon her crazed face, orange orbs tinted with crimson killing intent.

"Yes… It appears that I was a fool… to not have torn you to pieces after I came back from the singularities…"

Behind Ritsuka, the smiling face of a priest studied her crazed expression, eyes devoid of all things human. His entire body covered by a concealing black cloak, the man would have given off the appearance of a specter of death if not for the silver cross upon his neck.

"**Kotomine Kirei!"**

The priest's smile transformed into a smirk as he twisted his hand inside of Ritsuka's chest, obtaining a wince from the girl.

"_**Yes, Fujimaru Ritsuka. I never did understand why you did not kill me back then… when you still could."**_

Ritsuka's eyes narrowed, the girl shoving a hand inside her pant pocket.

"Well, you fucking sadistic tofu priest, that is something you will never be able to understand. I had gained a newfound appreciation for different personalities, you see. My servants were a blend of everything, from the most righteous of heroes to the most sadistic of murderers... So, I guess you could say that I didn't kill you because I thought that you could still be reasoned with, because after everything I've been through, after every insight I have acquired, I actually took the chance to peek under your outside layer… to find what lay underneath."

Ritsuka chuckled self-depreciatingly.

"There were even times when I wanted to forgive you for the horrible things you have done to my parents and myself in the past."

A hand was withdrawn from a suit pocket, containing a star-like rainbow jewel with eight triangular spikes protruding from the body.

"But, now I know for sure. Kotomine Kirei, you are simply a revolting abomination pretending to be a human, and not in a good way! Under that human skin dwells a hideous black abyss! There is no way in hell that anyone could befriend someone like you!"

Clutching the Saint Quartz in her hand, Ritsuka utilized the last decimal percentage of her prana to trigger its mechanism, tapping into its stored energy.

"Kukuku. I've been filling this jewel with my magical energy for a year now, convinced that I could use it as a low-cost trump card during hopeless situations."

Kirei's eyes widened as the energy inside of the jewel spiked, the sheer amount of power inside threatening to burst through the object like water through a dam.

"Who knew that it would be used for something like this?"

Attempting to wrench his arm out of Ritsuka's chest, the priest found that it was too difficult, as the girl's tensed muscles had trapped him in.

However, as he reinforced his limb, Kirei was finally able to rip his arm out of the girl, causing further damage and blood loss.

Even so, there was no point in that. Fujimaru Ritsuka had already accepted the inevitability of her death.

Left virtually helpless, with barely any prana to manipulate, there was simply no way for her to survive this encounter. Even when she was so lucky during the other times in her life, there was no salvation for her this time.

Therefore…

"To be honest… I really don't want to die alone. I mean, at least not without Mash watching over me over my deathbed. Yeah… this really sucks, and I hate the fact that there's no way I can do anything about it."

The jewel began to glow with white-hot energy, as if it was transforming into a small sun. Kirei reinforced his limbs the best he could, desperately attempting to leap away from the predetermined explosion.

"But, you know… If I can't die with my loved ones, I'll just die with my enemies! That's the second-best death I can ask for!"

Ritsuka's eyes narrowed as her vision blurred due to blood loss.

"_Yes… maybe if I can take this bastard with me, it won't be so bad."_

She had made a split-second decision. The blood loss certainly did not do much to deter Ritsuka's rashness.

The white-hot object seemed to compress onto itself for a single millisecond, rapidly expanding outward in the next.

The resulting explosion was one that wiped away everything in a five-meter radius.

Stone, wood, even metal, were all reduced to rubble, a massive three-dimensional hole taking up their previous location.

Kirei, who was still in the air, mid-jump, felt the impeding wave of rainbow energy engulf him, much faster than his legs would ever allow him to travel.

"_**Kukuku… Do you truly believe it will be that easy… Fujimaru Ritsuka?"**_

Ritsuka… simply gave a gentle smile as her bloodied form was engulfed by the explosion, her gaze turning skywards in that last moment, admiring the vast, blue heavens once more before her time came.

"_So… even though I've been through so much, and this is how it ends, huh? Well, killed by your life-long nemesis, and killing him in return… that's not too bad actually. Some of my servants would definitely approve. Although, this probably isn't poetic enough for William-san, is it?"_

The fluffy clouds, sitting atop the bountiful sky, seemed to change into the shapes of people, brilliant smiles on each of their faces.

"_But, if there's one regret I have, it's that I couldn't die with you, Mash. It's really a shame. Even when I know that you'll carry on fine without me, it's really annoying that I'll never be able to make any more memories with you. Who knows? You might adopt some kids, hell knows how many times I thought about that. Maybe you would even find yourself a new wife or husband… well, whoever they may be, all that I can say is that they're the luckiest people on the planet."_

A single drop of liquid seemed to uselessly drop to the ground, completely incinerated by the rainbow-colored wave of heat that threatened to consume all.

"_Ahh… who am I kidding? Honestly, Mash… I just wanted more time with you… I was never able to get married to any of my servants, so I'm really glad that our wedding happened before this. But still… I just… I just wanted more time! _

A small chuckle could be heard a millisecond before the explosion.

"_Ah… I see. That's it, huh? That's just what love is, isn't it? Even if I had all the time in the world with you… no, not just you… everyone. Even if I had centries with you all, I would still never truly be satisfied. Yes. Yes, that seems to be it. Love is a neverending spiral that leads to unquenchable desires. Or at least, that if my brand of love."_

The rainbow explosion consumed everything, leaving nothing in its wake.

"_Still, Mash. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that it feels like my heart's going to pop out of my chest. If you can ever forgive me for doing something this reckless, then I would be really happy. But most importantly… just have a good life. Even when you can't live for yourself, live for me, ok?"_

At that moment, the flames of Ristuka's life were cruelly snuffed out, like a candle being put out by a massive winter breeze.

Softly, without any commotion, the world's savior departed from this world.

The winds did not still.

The lands did not shift.

The seas did not split.

Even the almighty gods, who had observed the girl's entire journey did not weep. How could they mourne a single human, especially in this world where they were virtually powerless?

Yes… In the end, Fujimaru Ritsuka died in obscurity and mystery, her passing only known to her close friends and wife, which could be counted on a single hand.

With time, the world's savior became nothing more than a name on a dead family tree, her tale unknown and unsung, her existence, forgotten by all.

But that was a fate Ritsuka had anticipated. After all, she was never one to seek recognition or wealth. She simply fought to bring her world back, for the simple reason of living in it with her loved ones.

And she succeded. The world was saved. The lives of eight-billion, along with their distant ancestors were all returned from destruction due to the efforts of one woman and her comrades.

And in those eight-billion people… there were barely any who would ever utter the words "Fujimaru Ritsuka" in their entire lives.

Thus, the story ended.

Not with a massive battle with the entire world on the line.

Nor with a momentous reconciliation with lost comrades and lovers.

Not even with a blissful and hard-earned triumph over the primary antagonist.

It was simply… the loss of a drop of water in an endless sea.

The decrease of a single number from a total of eight million.

And that, was the conclusion to the existence of Fujimaru Ritsuka.

The anticlimactic end of an irreverent individual, unsung, unremembered, and utterly insignificant.

_**Not if your favorite world-hopping vampire has anything to say about it.**_

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There was nothing but darkness. Cold, void, nonexistent. Those were some of the ways to describe this space.

An endless reality of non-existing space, stretching far and void, akin to a black void where everything was nothing, and nothing was everything.

In the center of that hopeless space, one girl slept, unknowingly being watched over by a god-like existence. An unperceivable, incomprehensible deity.

"_**It wouLD NoT Do foR SomEOnE aS IntreSting As yOu tO PosseSs SucH A WeAk BodY._=?-,"**_

As the distorted voice finished that simple sentence, a streak of white exited the girl's chest, coalescing into a massive orb above her, a cluster of spiritual energy the size of a small car.

That orb suddenly grew in size, increasing and increasing until it became an existence that one could simply call enormous, becoming similar in volume to a large mansion.

And suddenly, just as the orb stopped glowing, it compressed itself into a hand-sized sphere, white-hot spiritual electricity channeling, as if desperately attempting to escape an inescapable prison.

That sphere was plunged into the girl's chest in an instant, as if it were forcefully smashed downwards by the hand of a god. In reality, this was not too far from the truth.

The Alien God, for the first time in millennia, felt an emotion somewhat close to amusement enter his incomprehensible mind.

This would be an entertaining experiment indeed.

And whilst this was happening, Fujimaru Ritsuka slowly opened her eyes.

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Ritsuka found herself sitting upright in a chair, surrounded by a world of complete black, devoid of almost everything.

"_Huh? Didn't I just die a second ago?"_

Before Ritsuka could think more, she swept her eyes across the surroundings, finding nothing but a wooden table, along with a rollable chair with its back turned to her.

"_Wait a minute…"_

Emiya Shirou had told Ritsuka many stories when she was small. One particular one was the tale where he had been summoned to a world of pitch black, forced to accommodate the whims of a trolling vampire.

The chair turned a hundred eighty degrees, the man sitting upon it suddenly meeting face to face with Ritsuka, who was still as a rock in her seat.

The old man looked at her with energetic and amused eyes, a suspicious smirk upon his aged face, his fangs revealed for all to see.

"Damned geezer. I didn't know you could interfere with someone's soul after they died. Tell me, do you do this often?"

To the now extremly annoyed Fujimaru Ritsuka, The Magician in command of the Second Magic gave a cheeky grin, his white beard curling upwards.

"Ah, my dear Ritsuka. I didn't know you were so interested in my magic. Perhaps you should have taken the offer to be my pupil back then?"

The girl sighed, her earlier annoyance gone.

"Look. You're an annoying, meddling, and overly vexing person. However, you're actually not that bad of a guy, even if you dumped me into that strange world back then. The only reason I didn't accept to be your pupil after the end of the Grand Order was that I just didn't want that kind of life. That's all."

Zelretch gave a genuine sigh of disappointment, something he did with extreme rarity. His earlier disposition forgotten, the man showed his genuine feelings.

"I know. I was just asking you to get a good reaction, but how am I supposed to respond when you give me such an honest answer?"

Ritsuka tilted her head and smiled.

"Yes, yes. You're not actually a bad person, just eccentric because of certain factors. I still haven't forgotten how you helped my parents back then, even though you were stretching the boundaries of your allowed amount of interference."

The old vampire covered his face with his hand, looking up into the sky as if thinking about something grand.

"Yes… those two. They were surprisingly wonderful pupils. Shame that they had to die so young…"

The number of times Zelretch had such a serious conversation with anyone could be counted upon a hand, so it could be said that Ritsuka had just orchestrated a historical event.

She was always good at peering into someone's true personality, peeling off the walls which they used to accommodate their existence in the outside world. Even the great Wizard Marshal Zelretch could not escape this strange innate ability, and had been affected just like all of Ritsuka's servants.

This is why, try as he might, the vampire could never truly feel superior in a conversation with Ritsuka. She always knew what he was really saying deep down, even when his words on the outside contradicted them.

It was disconcerting, to be in control over so many others, but not this single girl.

After Ritsuka and Zelretch sat in their seats in a moment of silence for Tohsake Rin and Emiya Shirou, the former asked in a calm tone,

"Zelretch-san, why is it that you have called me here? You already know that you cannot save me from death, so is this some kind of send-off? Are you here to show me something I must see before my assimilation with Akasha?

All living beings that possessed souls returned to Akasha, the tree of origin. They would be recycled and repurposed into new ones, something close to a cycle of reincarnation.

Therefore, whatever reason Zelretch possessed to summon her here would be rendered void once she was absorbed back into the Swirl of the Root. Unlike Heroic Spirits, who have their souls recorded in the Throne of Heroes, regular people would have their souls torn apart and reconstructed into something else. That was simply the way things worked.

However, the vampire seemed to disagree with this notion, as his unusually serious eyes glistened with sternness.

"Ritsuka, you've always been a no-nonsense sort of person, so I guess I'll get right to the point. No pleasantries or anything like that. However, this is something you probably won't like hearing."

Ritsuka furrowed her brows. She had no idea what the old man was talking about. Was it something the Alien God did?

"Your soul has been permanently connected to Akasha, so it would not be in your best intrest to submit your soul to it."

Ritsuka's eyes widened.

"_What the hell is he talking about? O-oi, don't tell me…"_

Zelretch sighed darkly, looking his age for the first time in years.

"Even I don't know what that Alien God did, but it seems to have connected your soul to Akasha in the strangest way possible."

Ritsuka was becoming impatient. She had a really bad feeling about this, but had to see where it lead.

"What did that guy do to me? I looked in my reality marble, Zelretch-san… there was a giant glowing portal on my apple tree. The special apple tree that I didn't even think existed!"

The vampire rubbed his eyes, obviously exhausted thanks to the conversation.

"Let me finish, Ritsuka. I have to do this step by step, so you are not confused. It would be best if you have a firm understanding of your situation."

The girl gulped once before nodding. It would appear that the stern expression on Zelretch's face would not accept any arguments.

"That Alien God's power is practically infinite, so it messed around with your connection to the Root. This is not like some of the other cases, where the people connected practically gained complete omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Your connection is much lighter, which means that you don't have as many powers as them. No doubt, this was intentional."

He put a hand under his chin, as if ondring over a fact.

"For some reason, it gave you a complete connection with the Throne of Heroes, so you can access it at any time. That's what the portal in your reality marble represents, a hole to an infinate storage of data. Surprisingly, this works too well with your ability. It's almost as if your entire personality was hand-crafted to get the most of this connection…"

Zelretch shrugged.

"Well, that's a hypothesis for another time. Now, all you need to know is that you can reach into that portal any time you like and take in the memories, experiences, and abilities of one heroic spirit into yourself via reality marble. Of course, your mind will forget all of those memories the second you let go of the transformation. It's just a natural defense mechanism based on the chance of your brain running out of storage data."

The vampire smiled.

"Of course, you also have access to their skills and Noble Phantasms. Even so, it isn't like you're actually summoning them, more like that you're taking into yourself everything that they are, except for their actual sentient selves. In theory, if that annoying little barrier the Alien God set up didn't exist, you'd actually be able to summon your servants to your side."

At Ritsuka's downcast expression, the old vampire winced slightly. There were times before when he recruited her for a few missions, and during them, he had slowly grown attached to her, treating the girl as a genuine granddaughter. (Because Harem Protagonist EX is OP)

Therefore, seeing her like this did not do wonders for his mood.

"Sorry, that must have hurt a little."

Ritsuka shook her head.

"No… I've accepted it by now. They wouldn't want me to mope too much."

Taking a breath to compose herself, the former master raised an eyebrow.

"I know most of what you're saying already. The question is, just what does this change? I'm still dead, aren't I?"

The vampire scratched his head.

"Yes… about that… It would appear that it is not in your best intrest to go back to the Root. Something… undesirable may happen…"

The girl frowned.

"What do you mean? Am I going to be denied death now? After everything that's already happened?"

Ritsuka had almost reached her breaking point.

She been forcefully taken away from her wife on their special day together, never to see each other again. Now she was being denied an actual death?"

It wasn't like Ritsuka actually wanted to die. She simply wanted something that was supposedly preordained to happen. King Hassan would be extremly disappointed in her if she were to escape from death.

Moreover… considering that Ritsuka would never see Mash or any of her loved ones again, there wasn't much of a point in living.

Zelretch, as if reading her mind, combed his messy white hair with a hand.

"No… It's not like you can't die. It's just that if you die, something extremly bad will happen. You won't be reassimilated into the Root, you'll be… preserved, if that's the right word for it."

Ritsuka covered her face with both hands. She wasn't following the topic anymore.

"What the hell are you talking about…"

There was a moment of silence until the punchline was spoken.

"Basically, you'll become God."

Ritsuka's entire body tensed as she leaped out of her seat on sheer instinct.

"You're fucking kidding me!"

Zelretch tried to say something, but was aptly cut off by the now enraged former master.

"No, seriously! What kind of bad joke is this?! Become God?! Really?! How the hell would that even work?!"

Inside, Ritsuka's heart sunk. She immediately forgot how impossible the current situation was. Zelretch wouldn't lie to her about something like this. However, the meaning of his words had a different effect entirely.

Preserved and becoming God… this was the worst possible scenario.

Gods on the planet Earth were existence directly connected to the world. Despite that, they had human emotions, thoughts, and feelings, albeit with a high amount of arrogance.

Extraterrestrial gods on the other hand… were simply not compatible with humanity. Becoming a God by assimilating with Akasha while being preserved… there was only one possibility in that case.

Zelretch narrowed his eyes.

"Yes… It seems like you have realized it. Of course, this is just a theory based on calculations, but my calculations are rarely wrong. This is something almost separate from the machinations of the Alien God."

His eyes stared into Ritsuka's, as if staring directly into her soul.

"Tell me… have you reached the 'truth' of Akasha?"

Ritsuka gulped as she remembered what Abagail's dark patron has shown her. The girl did not have any memories of the events, but she knew that she almost killed herself after reaching a 'certain something'.

"Yes… I think so. An Outer God showed it to me."

Zelretch frowned.

"Then your memories of the 'truth' must have been erased then. Honestly… what was that god thinking… showing you something like that?"

Ritsuka fidgeted with her fingers before asking,

"Just what does that 'truth' mean? I have no idea what it is…"

Zelretch sighed, almost as if he was exasperated.

"To be honest, I don't know either, and that's a good thing. One of those Outer Gods told me something about puppets and strings, and just left it at that. However…"

The old vampire looked down, almost as if in thought.

"If you have seen the 'truth', then Akasha will not incorporate your soul into it anymore, since you've basically ascended beyond it. It could be assumed that you are already God, just without knowledge of your powers."

Ritsuka almost screamed. She had no idea what this all was, and it was extremly confusing.

"You seem to be ignorant of one thing. The 'truth' of the Root is not a mere secret to be unlocked, it is the central mystery holding together the rules of the universe. If someone knows of it, then they can ignore those very rules, for they have realized just what they really are, and how easy it is to actually break them."

Ritsuka clawed at her hair.

"I don't understand any of this, but what does it have to do about me 'becoming God'?"

Zelretch stood up.

"It's simple Ritsuka. The moment that the 'truth' of reality was revealed to you, you became an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent creature, who knows the true form of reality. While I have no idea what that 'truth' actually is, I do know that it drove you insane, which is why your memories had to be erased."

The atmosphere changed immediately, a feeling of dread climbing up Ritsuka's stomach.

"However, even if those memories are erased, the 'truth' is still ingrained into your very existence, which means it will be revealed to you once more when you reach the Root, when it uselessly attempts to break down your soul. By that point, you will have become a creature surpassing Akasha entirely, something that understands everything about reality itself."

Ritsuka was shaking now. That kind of power was not good. If the sheer recognization of it was enough to make her attempt to take her own life, then what kind of terrible secret must that 'truth' be? Unbelievable as this was, she had no choice but to accept it.

For one of the few times in her life, the final master of humanity found herself shaking in her boots, completely consumed by fear.

"Now… I do not know if the Alien God partnered up with that Outer God, but either way, it appears that simply dying is just not a good option for you anymore. Being omniscient and omnipresent isn't a good thing, it's a curse. Knowing everything makes it all boring. After all, it is one of humanity's reasons for existence to explore the unknown. That cannot be achieved when there is no unknown."

Ritsuka dully nodded.

She didn't understand most of the things Zelretch said, but if half of them were true, then Ritsuka was in an extremly bad situation.

She had several bad experiences with near-all-powerful cosmic beings. She did not want to become one herself.

It wasn't as if Ritsuka detested power. No, she loved it. Power allowed her to protect her loved ones, to keep them safe from harm.

However, if it was something like omniscience, then she would definitely transform into someone else, someone who is not Fujimaru Ritsuka anymore.

Ritsuka had made a promise to her servants to stay true to herself no matter what happened, and she intended to keep it.

Therefore, composing herself, she asked,

"So… can I assume that you summoned me here to give me some sort of escape from death? Although something like that should be outside your jurisdiction, I can't underestimate you."

Zelretch nodded, a smirk on his face.

Ritsuka felt a shiver run down her spine. Whenever the old vampire used that smile, something would take a turn for the worse.

"Yes. It is exactly that. I am not surprised that you were able to figure this out. Now..."

Ritsuka gulped, anticipating what was coming next.

"Fujimaru Ritsuka… would you be interested in saving another world?"

The girl, now slumped in her seat, sighing with an expression of acceptance.

"Yep. I knew it would be something like that. Honestly… can't I just go back to my old world?"

With a sad but knowing smile on her face, Ritsuka looked down at her feet. She already knew the answer. Still, this was an obligatory question, if not for her sake then for Mash's.

Zelretch shook his head.

"Unfortunately, that is impossible. The only reason I can give you this offer in the first place is because I'm somewhat collaborating with Alaya. It knows that you will refuse any requests to become a counter guardian, so it will just use you in another way to save one of its worlds."

Ritsuka almost choked on her saliva, recuperating after a few seconds as she digested the information. Oh, this was not good at all. Nothing that had to do with Alaya is ever good.

"So… basically, because there's no way I'll become a counter guardian considering how much of a scam the offer is, Alaya's going to use me in some other, overly complex way. Is that it?"

Zelretch nodded.

"Pretty much."

Ritsuka grimaced.

"Well… I don't really have a choice, do I?"

The vampire ruefully nodded his head, confirming Ritsuka's suspicions.

The girl lowered her head, voice dropping to a whisper.

"Could you tell me what happened to Mash, at least?"

Nodding, Zelretch submitted to her request.

"She lived a happy life. Granted, it was not quite the same without you, but that girl was able to move on and die peacefully with a smile on her face."

Ritsuka chuckled lightly, wiping her eyes with a sleeved arm.

"I'm glad, old man. You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

The vampire smirked.

"No, I suppose I don't."

There was an awkward silence in the air that lasted for a whole minute, broken by the vampire, who had gathered a rainbow-colored flame in his hand.

"There's not much time for me to talk to you. If you want to move on, then it has to be now."

Ritsuka nodded.

"Alright. You should already know what my decision will be. Just tell me what I have to deal with."

Zelretch smirked.

"Already asking the important questions, I see. Well… sorry. All I'll tell you is that the threat is world-ending. That's it. Personal reasons, so I hope you can understand."

Ritsuka's eye began to twitch rapidly.

"Y-Yes… If it's you I can't really ask for more, can I?"

She needed much more information. At the start, Ritsuka was not too confident without her servants. If she didn't even have information to work with, then what the hell was she supposed to do?

"Can you at least tell me what kind of world it is? Anything helps."

The vampire's annoying smirk was still on his face.

"Yes. It would appear that the time period you will be thrust into is close to the date and circumstances of your former world. however, the Age of Gods is still ongoing."

The girl grinned.

"_That means I can enlist Divine Spirits to help me. Mana concentration will be high, so there will be many heroes with powerful abilities. Maybe they have used the advanced technology of the twentieth century to make magecraft-fueled superweapons? The possibilities are endless! And with conceptual weapons, then-"_

Zelretch, as if reading Ritsuka's mind, raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't depend too much on the gods and their heroes. Conceptual weapons are extremly hard to come by in that world, and gods are not extensions of the world either. In fact, many of them don't even know that Gaia and Alaya exist."

Ritsuka deadpanned. So, not only did they not have an arsenal of conceptual weapons, but the gods weren't even real gods?

"You're kidding me."

The vampire simply smirked. AGAIN.

Sighing heavily, Ritsuka drove her palm into her face, teeth grit.

"Alright. At least tell me that the world-ending disaster isn't that bad, or that counter guardians will help me or something. Anything would be good right now."

"No. I'm afraid that you will not be receiving any help from Gaia or Alaya. You _are_ the help, after all. Well, actually… nevermind."

Ritsuka raised an eyebrow.

"Actually what?"

Redirecting the conversation, Zelretch laughed.

"Anyways, I'll give you advice from time to time, maybe even a few materials. Oh, and you have about three-hundred extremly high-quality magic circuits now, almost enough to be called a magic core. That Alien God seems to have tampered with your soul a little more than I thought."

Ritsuka snarled.

"Don't change the subject! And what do you mean that I have three-hundred high-quality magic circuits?! Zelretch!"

The rainbow flame in the vampire's flame began to burn brighter as he turned his palm towards Ritsuka.

"Well, that's the end of our little chat. I'll be writing to you soon, Ritsuka."

Jumping forward, the girl lunged for Zelretch.

"Wait a minute! You haven't told me enoug-"

A spiraling vortex of rainbow fire engulfed the girl, interrupting her words.

Fujimaru Ritsuka was gone from Zelretch's realm.

The old vampire, having no more for his facade, sighed in exhaustion.

"Alaya, just what exactly are you doing… This is unusual, even for you."

He jumped off his chair, pulling out a brilliant rainbow-colored sword, consisting from jewels.

"What an I even saying? There is no way that something like the embodiment of humanity will listen to me."

Strolling his beard, the vampire swung his famed sword in an arc, leaving behind a circular rainbow portal in its wake.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

A certain white-haired girl was visited by her surrogate-grandfather, thankful for his company.

This time, he told her a story.

A story about a human girl who had saved the world twice, after many hardships. A girl that triumphed against forces that should have destroyed her with nothing but her determination and bonds.

A certain, tragic girl, who passed on to the next life as an unthanked unsung hero.

And that evening, Arcurid Brunstud slept, dreaming of the greatest hero.

A hero with orange hair, and a gentle, but resolved smile on her face.

**I sleep at 2:00 A.M. in the mornings now, lol**

**Still, I'm not giving up writing**

**I don't really like the quality of this chapter, but the obscure topics I included are intentionally left unclear**

**I want to hopefully elaborate on them in my future stories.**

**But now, the two-chapter template is finally complete. I can use this for a variety of crossovers, with my somewhat OOC protagonist**

**Good for me**


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